Historically, the VRA derived much of its power from Section 5, which was often referred to as the heart of the bill. It recognized that racial discrimination interfered with voting rights and varied in severity by state. The section mandated that states with an established history of racial discrimination needed federal approval before they could overhaul their voter registration laws. This “preclearance” was determined by a formula established in Section 4 of the VRA, which Congress voted to renew in 1970, 1975, 1982, and 2006.

This bipartisan consensus changed quite suddenly in 2013. A conservative-led U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a controversial 5-4 decision that Section 4 was obsolete – that “our country has changed” – and repealed the preclearance formula. The ruling effectively dismantled one of the most important protections in the VRA because, without the preclearance formula, Section 5 applied to no states at all.  The New York Times Magazine eloquently summarized the result: “on June 26, 2013, we had less voting rights than we had on August 6, 1965.”

Within 24 hours of Section 4’s repeal, several states moved to enact voter identification laws that would intentionally and effectively limit the right to vote. For example, the state of Texas (a preclearance state) passed a law that required Texans to prove their citizen status with a passport or copy of a birth certificate, which can be costly and present increased barriers for lower-income or older Americans to access the ballot. And as predicted, the law did, in fact, lead to decreased voter registration and turnout. Across the board for all races in the state, voter registration dropped between 2010 and 2014, with communities of color seeing a larger decrease than whites. The law was struck down just yesterday by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals as racially discriminatory, a decision that will likely be appealed to the U.S Supreme Court.

As such, it should be no surprise that when the Center for American Progress Action Fund released its Health of State Democracies report earlier this summer, the state of Texas received an “F” grade for ballot accessibility (a metric used to identify potential barriers to the voting process for eligible voters). Other preclearance states that have recently passed changes to their voter registration laws include: Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. And every single one of these states scored a D+ or worse when it came to ballot accessibility, underscoring the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s decision.

This right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy. It is, in fact, the fundamental right that our forefathers considered as they fought a revolution to enshrine it in our Constitution. It is absolutely imperative, therefore, that we seek solutions to expand that right. House Democrats recently did just that. In order to bridge the preclearance gap created by the Supreme Court, they called on Speaker Boehner to advance legislation. Their plan, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015, would only affect states that were found to have violated the VRA within the past 25 years – approximately 13 states. But Speaker Boehner and Republican House leaders have blocked the law from moving forward in the legislative process.

The reason to bolster voting rights here in America has never been clearer. If America is going to live up to its credo as the “leader of the free world,” we must ensure that all Americans are able to vote. We cannot continue to stifle the voices of people simply because we do not like the way they vote. The time to act is now, and we must ensure through legislation and action that all Americans are politically enfranchised.