The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for April 1, 2026
The New Jersey Assembly advanced the “John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act” March 23rd on a 53 to 20 vote. If passed by the senate and signed as expected, New Jersey would become the 10th state to pass a state voting rights act.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington have all passed bills to offset recent and anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decisions eroding the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The New Jersey bill would make municipalities violating the state or federal VRA subject to “pre-clearance” requirements, which the high court neutralized in the federal VRA in Shelby County v. Holder. It also requires multilingual election materials if 2%, or 100 or more local voters, speak a non-English language.
To address racial gerrymandering discrimination, which recent high court decisions made harder to prove under federal VRA, New Jersey’s bill would prohibit election officials from impairing majority minority communities from electing the candidate of their choice.
It also bans polling place policies or activities which would impede, deny or abridge the right to vote. In the 1981 gubernatorial race, the NJ GOP infamously used armed off-duty police officers wearing “National Ballot Security Task Force” armbands to intimidate voters. We’ve linked to the text of this pro-voter bill at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
National Conference of State Legislatures – State Voting Rights Acts
New Jersey Legislature – Bill A1715 Summary: John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey
New Jersey Legislature – Bill A1715 Full Text: John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey
New Jersey Monitor – NJ Assembly panel advances state-level voting rights act
New Jersey Monitor – NJ Assembly passes state Voting Rights Act
Brennan Center for Justice – Shelby County v. Holder
Associated Press – Federal court order ends in RNC voter-intimidation case
Related ADM Reports:
American Democracy Minute – With the SCOTUS Majority Intent on Dismantling the Voting Rights Act, Pro-Democracy States are Enacting State VRAs
Groups Taking Action:
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU NJ
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State
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