Is Section 5 of Voting Rights Act Obsolete?
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on whether Congress went too far in extending Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Once upon a time in America, some states tried to keep blacks from voting. The infamous poll tax was one method used to suppress the black vote. Over 40 years ago, Congress enacted a law that required states like Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana to seek Justice Department permission to change voting procedures (pre-clearance). As George Will points out in the Washington Post, these states needed permission to make even minor changes.
In 1975, Texas was added to the list of states covered by the provision. In 2006, the act was extended for the fourth time – for 25 years. A utility district in Texas that came into existence in 1986 has challenged the law. Considering the racial progress made in the last four decades, particularly the election of black officials, the pre-clearance requirement is intrusive and based on out-of-date evidence, the plaintiff contends.
Perhaps the best evidence that Section 5 is obsolete is the election of Barack Obama, America’s first biracial president.
