Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5236 - Voting Rights Extension Act of 1992

(House Rules)
(Edwards (D) California)

If H.R. 5236 were presented to the President in its current form, his senior advisers would recommend a veto.

The Administration supports and has vigorously enforced the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was designed to attack racially discriminatory voting practices. However, H.R. 5236 does not directly address racially discriminatory voting practices. Rather, it would result in unwarranted and unduly burdensome Federal micromanagement of the powers of certain State and local governments. It would require advance Federal approval of thousands of State and local government decisions, working an unprecedented expansion of Federal power. Specifically, the bill would require preclearance of "any change of procedural rules, voting practices, or transfers of decision making authority that affect the powers of an elected official or position" made by a covered jurisdiction (emphasis added). Thus, preclearance would be required for a subcommittee assignment change, a rule changing from a majority to a two-thirds vote requirements for adopting new taxes, or even any change in decision-making authority reflected in the jurisdiction's budget from the previous year. No showing of racial animus or intent to affect voting would be required.

H.R. 5236 singles out particular jurisdictions, primarily in the South, for manipulating election procedures in the past for racially discriminatory ends. There is no record that warrants imposing onerous new requirements on only those jurisdictions.

The Administration would be willing to work with Congress to develop an alternative to H.R. 5236 that would address more directly the issue of racially discriminatory voting practices. Unlike H.R. 5236, such a proposal would: (1) be targeted at changes that affect and are intended to affect voting; (2) require a finding of intentional racial discrimination; (3) not impose wholesale preclearance for routine non-discriminatory changes in local governance; and (4) apply nationwide.