{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sewell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-terri-sewell-responds-recent-court-decision-invalidating", "Congresswoman Terri Sewell Responds to the Recent Court Decision Invalidating North Carolina's Voter ID Law", "2016-07-30", "2016", "2016-07", "Democrat", "House", "AL", "Terri Sewell", "S001185", "sewell.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.\u00a0\u2013 Today, Congresswoman Sewell released the following statement in response to\u00a0the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit\u2019s decision invalidating North Carolina\u2019s onerous\u00a0voter ID\u00a0law:\n\u201cThe court\u00a0ruling by the 4th\u00a0Circuit on Friday striking down North Carolina\u2019s voter ID law is a great victory for American democracy. As a strong advocate for equal access to the ballot\u00a0box, I have been a\u00a0vocal opponent of voter photo ID laws because of their discriminatory impact on certain\u00a0vulnerable communities.\u00a0\u00a0The court ruling\u00a0expressly validates this concern by finding that the new provisions in the\u00a0North Carolina voting law \u2018target African Americans with almost surgical precision.\u2019 \u00a0Likewise,\u00a0the court panel noted\u00a0the state's motivation of reducing fraud\u00a0\u2018impose cures for problems that did not exist.\u201d\u2019\u00a0\n\u201cThe 4th\u00a0Circuit\u2019s decision is consistent\u00a0with other recent findings by courts in Texas and Wisconsin, which also note that voters, particularly in minority communities, would be adversely harmed by changes to voting rights laws in those states. These decisions once again underscore the importance of the need for federal preclearance for changes to voting practices and procedures that could have a discriminatory impact.\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cAs the 2016 Presidential Election cycle continues, it is critically important that we recognize and defend against any attempts to create modern day barriers to the ballot box that disenfranchise the most vulnerable members of our community.\u00a0 Instead of making voting more difficult, we should be working to ensure that every American citizen\u00a0is able to exercise their constitutionally protected right.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u201cAs Co-Chair of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, I will continue to urge my colleagues in Congress to enact meaningful legislation to restore the vote such as\u00a0H.R. 2867: The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015, a bill I introduced\u00a0to create a modern day coverage\u00a0formula to fully\u00a0restore the\u00a0federal protections of\u00a0the\u00a0Voting Rights Act of 1965.\u00a0 We should all strive to ensure that our right to vote is fair and inclusive for all citizens. As such, the recent ruling in North Carolina sets a very important precedent.\u201d\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sewell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-terri-sewell-responds-recent-court-decision-invalidating"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8573809172958136, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}