NCRRRI launches national tour to document voting barriers and press Congress on Section 5

The National Civil Rights Research and Records Institute has launched a nationwide civic education tour to collect testimony on modern voting barriers and build a record for Congress to restore federal preclearance protections under the Voting Rights Act. The effort comes as the group pushes for a new Section 4(b) coverage formula after Shelby County v. Holder left Section 5 inoperative.

Why it matters: - NCRRRI is trying to create a modern factual record that could support congressional action to restore Section 5 voting-rights protections. - The campaign targets barriers that can shape who gets to vote, how elections are administered, and whether jurisdictions face federal review before changing voting rules. - The group is also framing voting access as a democracy issue and an economic issue, arguing that equal ballot access affects communities, businesses, and financial markets.

What happened: - The National Civil Rights Research and Records Institute announced a nationwide civic education tour in Houston on Oct. 7, 2026. - The tour will hold public forums in cities across the country to document modern voting barriers, gather resident testimony, and build community-based solutions. - NCRRRI said the effort is designed to support Congress in adopting an updated preclearance coverage formula under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. - Chancellor Joseph Baker, NCRRRI chairman, said Congress must adopt an evidence-based coverage formula that reflects current conditions and restores federal preclearance protections.

The details: - The tour will collect testimony, identify recurring barriers, connect affected communities with civic leaders and researchers, and develop a contemporary evidence base for reforms and congressional review. - NCRRRI said reported barriers include polling-place closures, restrictive identification requirements, sudden procedural changes, inadequate language access, discriminatory redistricting, and unequal access to voting technology. - The institute pointed to the Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, which invalidated the Section 4(b) coverage formula but did not strike down Section 5 itself. - Without a valid coverage formula, Section 5’s preclearance process does not operate as intended. - NCRRRI is urging Congress to adopt a new formula based on current conditions and documented patterns of discrimination. - The institute said local officials and civic leaders on the tour include LaWana Slack-Mayfield of the Charlotte City Council, Kenneth Barrios of 33rd Ward Working Families in Chicago, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez of Chicago’s 33rd Ward, Kevin Robinson of Phoenix City Council District 6, Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth of Chicago’s 48th Ward, and Bennett R. Lawson of Chicago’s 44th Ward. - Additional cities, venues, and dates will be announced as scheduling is finalized. - City council members, public officials, community activists, and organizers may register interest, and participants may attend, observe, provide written statements, or contribute to a forum. - Written submissions may be preserved as part of the forum record. - Each city announcement will include registration instructions and response deadlines. - At each forum, residents will receive information about voting rights and may speak for three to five minutes about voting barriers or other civil-rights concerns. - Testimony may address protections under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Voting Rights Act, and related federal laws. - NCRRRI said the forums are not legal proceedings and will not determine liability. - The records are meant to support research, education, policy development, and congressional review. - The institute described its community-development model as a way to identify problems, document impact, and advance practical solutions. - Its framework centers on listening locally, documenting systematically, connecting stakeholders, developing solutions, and sustaining progress after each event. - NCRRRI said stakeholder discussions may include reducing health-care costs, removing political and economic barriers, stabilizing housing, improving support for seniors, and expanding access to polling places. - The group also said more than 150 million minority residents represent more than 42% of the U.S. population and generate more than $5 trillion in annual buying power.

Between the lines: - NCRRRI is pairing civil-rights testimony with policy advocacy, which suggests the tour is meant to do more than raise awareness. - By gathering forum records city by city, the institute is trying to turn local accounts into evidence Congress could use to justify a new coverage formula. - The economic framing broadens the pitch beyond civil rights advocates and aims to show that voting access has market consequences as well as constitutional ones.

What's next: - NCRRRI will announce more cities, venues, and dates as the tour schedule is finalized. - Local registration instructions and response deadlines will follow each city announcement. - The institute will preserve written submissions and forum testimony for use in research, education, policy development, and congressional review. - NCRRRI and its supporters will continue pressing Congress to restore an effective Section 5 framework with a new evidence-based Section 4(b) formula.