What’s inside the John Lewis Voting Rights Act?

Democrats in the House of Representatives have passed a bill, named in honour of late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis, to revive and strengthen the 1965 Voting Rights Act against racially discriminatory voting laws after a pair of US Supreme Court rulings undermined key elements of the landmark civil rights law.

HR 4, known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – in tandem with the For The People Act, a sweeping elections and campaign finance reform proposal – follows years-long attempts among Republican lawmakers to restrict ballot access, consolidate power and dilute votes from largely Black and brown communities.

It also recognises a growingly conservative judiciary and a Supreme Court that has repeatedly stripped vital constitutional protections on voting rights – leading up to once-a-decade redistricting sessions that for the first time in decades will be drawing up congressional and local election districts without those guardrails.