Politics & Government
Falls Church Wants Voting Rights Act Preclearance Removed
Removing the preclearance would allow the city to make changes to their voting process without going through the Department of Justice first.
Falls Church has requested the United States Department of Justice allow them to avoid the preclearance measure of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in “The Little City.”
By avoiding the preclearance, David Bjerke, general registrar for the City of Falls Church, said the city could rearrange voting districts without first having to go through the DOJ.
The DOJ checks the last 10 years of voter election results to determine if there was any proof of discrimination as part of the process to have the preclearance removed, according to Bjerke.
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“What we’re applying for is a bailout,” Bjerke said. “We still have to abide by everything in the act.”
The city believes they have proven they do not discriminate against minorities at the polls and no longer needs the federal oversight. Bjerke said the city has met with minority groups including the NAACP and received no notable concerns.
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Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the act contained special enforcement provisions targeted at those areas of the country where Congress believed the potential for discrimination to be the greatest, according to the Department of Justice website. Virginia was one of those states.
According to a release Wednesday from Susan Finarelli, spokeswoman for the city, "The City of Falls Church has applied for removal of the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act. If the federal court grants the city’s request, then the city will no longer need to go through the preclearance hurdles when wanting to make a routine change to its election process. The city has documented the many years of fair voting accessibility and continues its commitment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
Finarelli said the city filed the complaint on Feb. 15 and an answer from the DOJ is due by April 16.
If the petition is approved, the city could come out from under the preclearance by May 20.
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