Committee amends and advances John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act after broad support from voting-rights groups

The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday amended and reported the committee substitute for Assembly Bill 17 15, the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act, after hours of supportive testimony from civil-rights, community and voting-rights organizations.

Vice Chair Reynolds Jackson (sponsoring the measure in the Assembly) described the proposal as a state-level safeguard against what advocates say is erosion of federal voting-rights protections. “Our voting rights are under attack across America,” the vice chair said in remarks introducing the bill, and witnesses urged the panel to fund implementation.

Witnesses from the League of Women Voters, Asian American and Pacific Islander groups, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the ACLU, the Campaign Legal Center and others said the bill would provide modernized preclearance for jurisdictions with histories of discriminatory practices, strengthen language-access requirements, create a Division of Voting Rights to enforce protections, and provide a public database to track changes to local election practices.

Calandra Ortiz Resende of the League of Women Voters said the measure ‘‘provides a clear path forward’’ to document and remedy polling-place problems, language-access gaps and late polling openings. Nuzat Choudhury of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice cited more than 885 incidents the Election Protection Coalition documented between 2020 and 2024, including intimidation and accessibility failures, and said state action is warranted.

Supporters argued the preclearance model reduces litigation costs by resolving potential violations before they escalate; Marissa Wright of the Campaign Legal Center described the bill’s pre-suit notice and safe-harbor provisions as measures to avoid costly, protracted court battles.

Some committee members pressed witnesses for local examples and data; advocates pointed to a recent consent decree in Union County over language access and to documented reports of voter-intimidation incidents. The committee adopted amendments reflected in the committee substitute and reported the measure out of committee.

The substitute advances the bill to subsequent legislative steps; supporters asked lawmakers to commit funding for the new enforcement office, language access and community outreach to ensure the measure’s protections are effective once implemented.