The Supreme Court has ruled that certain provisions of the landmark Voting rights Act of 1965 violate the constitution.
In a 5-4 vote, the Court found the provisions in the law requiring that nine southern states and certain jurisdictions obtain federal approval before making any changes to their voting laws, to be discriminatory in nature.
These jurisdictions had historically enacted poll taxes, literary tests and other discriminatory laws that were clearly designed to make it difficult if not impossible for African Americans to vote. The Voting Rights Act required that these states obtain federal “preclearance “before enacting any changes in their voting laws. Yesterday's ruling strikes down that provision.
In writing the opinion for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts wrote: “…our country has changed”… (Preclearance provisions) “no longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdictions”… and have no logical relation to present day.”
Upon learning of the ruling the Texas state legislature immediately passed a new more restrictive voter I’d law. The South Carolina legislature announced it will do the same.
These are the same restrictive voter I’d laws that the federal courts struck down in the past…not in 1965…in 2012.
The Court's ruling would have us believe that racism and discrimination are dead and that equal rights among states is more important than equal rights among their citizens.
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