Protecting voters

There has been much progress in voters’ rights since 1965, when the law that guarantees access to the polls was enacted. However, this legislation continues to be as necessary today as 40 years ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on a case filed by Shelby County in Alabama, requesting to eliminate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. According to this section, nine states, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia—in addition to a list of counties and municipalities in other states—must obtain preclearance from the Justice Department or a federal court before making changes that affect voting.

The plaintiff’s assertion is that these minority voter protections are no longer necessary and, they claim, the best example of this is the election of an African-American president.

However, the last election demonstrated the need to keep the integrity of the law. On the one hand, a federal court rejected three redistricting plans because it found they were “enacted with a discriminatory purpose.” On the other, numerous states with Republican majorities established laws supposedly to fight the nonexistent ill of voter election fraud. In reality, the purpose was to limit access to the polls for minorities—who mostly vote Democrat—as was recognized in Florida after the election.

The president’s re-election points to the great strides made in civil rights during the past few decades. But the trickery that was attempted in states that must request preclearance is the best example of the need to avoid watering down a law that is vital to our democracy.