Voting Rights: Supreme Court to review Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide whether Congress went too far in extending the life of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights legislation from 1965.
In 2006, Congress extended the act 25 years through 2031, citing that vestiges of racial discrimination remain in America. But the VRA is now being challenged by opponents who say that it is now unnecessary in a country that just elected its first African-American president.
Observers say the appeal will be a major test case of federal authority and whether or not the federal government should still have power to supervise state election practices and make sure that racial minorities have as equal chances as whites to vote for the candidates they prefer. "This could be the biggest election law case on the court's docket since Bush v. Gore," Richard L. Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told the New York Times.
The question surrounds a provision of the Act called Section 5, also known as preclearance, that requires states or local governments with histories of racial discrimination to get federal approval before making any changes in election procedures. Section 5 of the VRA was passed as a temporary measure, set to expire after five years, but Congress has since reauthorized the provision four times, the last being in 2006. Nine states -- Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia -- and counties in several other states are covered by the provision. But now a small Texas utility district is challenging the clearance requirement, calling it an unwarranted intrusion on states' rights.
Voting rights groups and civil rights attorneys defended the law, arguing that even in the age of Obama, the extension of the VRA is constitutional, and that the Act remains a critical piece of legislation protecting minority rights in an America that is far from a post-racial country.
"Without the continuation of the [VRA's] protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted," Congress concluded after holding hearings in 2005 and 2006 to review the law. "Forty years has not been a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges of discrimination following nearly 100 years of disregard for the dictates of the 15th amendment."
In 2006, Congress extended the act 25 years through 2031, citing that vestiges of racial discrimination remain in America. But the VRA is now being challenged by opponents who say that it is now unnecessary in a country that just elected its first African-American president.
Observers say the appeal will be a major test case of federal authority and whether or not the federal government should still have power to supervise state election practices and make sure that racial minorities have as equal chances as whites to vote for the candidates they prefer. "This could be the biggest election law case on the court's docket since Bush v. Gore," Richard L. Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told the New York Times.
The question surrounds a provision of the Act called Section 5, also known as preclearance, that requires states or local governments with histories of racial discrimination to get federal approval before making any changes in election procedures. Section 5 of the VRA was passed as a temporary measure, set to expire after five years, but Congress has since reauthorized the provision four times, the last being in 2006. Nine states -- Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia -- and counties in several other states are covered by the provision. But now a small Texas utility district is challenging the clearance requirement, calling it an unwarranted intrusion on states' rights.
Voting rights groups and civil rights attorneys defended the law, arguing that even in the age of Obama, the extension of the VRA is constitutional, and that the Act remains a critical piece of legislation protecting minority rights in an America that is far from a post-racial country.
"Without the continuation of the [VRA's] protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted," Congress concluded after holding hearings in 2005 and 2006 to review the law. "Forty years has not been a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges of discrimination following nearly 100 years of disregard for the dictates of the 15th amendment."
