From RH Reality Check: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/11/09/scotus-looks-ready-to-gut-voting-rights-act
by Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Legal Analyst, RH Reality Check
November 14, 2012
Just three days after an election in which right-wing efforts to restrict voting access came under increasing scrutiny, the Roberts Court agreed to rule on a challenge to Congress’s power to protect minority groups’ rights at the polls.
The Court said it would hear arguments from Shelby County, Alabama that Congress went beyond its authority when it extended, for another 25 years, the nation’s most important civil rights law, the Voting Rights Act. Originally passed in 1965 and renewed four times since then, the Voting Rights Act remains a key legislative tool in battling entrenched systemic racial discrimination in the electoral process. And as we’ve seen in this last election where minority voters in places like Virginia, Florida, and Ohio waited in line for upwards of 5 hours before casting a vote, the VRA remains more relevant than ever.
Specially at issue is the constitutionality of the law’s Section 5, the laws most important and powerful provision. Section 5 places nine states and parts of seven other states with a past history of racial bias in voting under federal jurisdiction in administering elections. Those jurisdictions covered by Section 5 must get official clearance in Washington before they may put into effect any change in election laws or procedures, no matter how small. The Court came close to striking down that section three years ago, but instead sent Congress clear signals that it should update the law so that it reflects more recent conditions, especially in the South. In response, Congress did nothing.
In granting review, the Court limited its inquiry to a question of its own creation:
Continue reading at: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/11/09/scotus-looks-ready-to-gut-voting-rights-act
