Last week, the US Congress failed to advance urgently needed protections of the right to vote, leaving the fate of our multiracial democracy very much in doubt. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act sought to restore full and fair access to the ballot in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s disastrous 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder. That decision dismantled preclearance requirements for voting jurisdictions that fell under the 1965 Vot