The Voting Rights Act is undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements that surfaced during the American Civil Rights Era, but the historic law is now in jeopardy as members of the Supreme Court argued on Wednesday as to whether or not it is outdated.
The law requires states with a history of discrimination to get approval from the federal government before it can change the way it conducts elections. It mainly affects Southern states that infamously prevented people of color from voting in the 20th century.
At the heart of the debate is Section 5 of the law which requires nine mostly Southern states with a history of racial discrimination dating back to the 1960s to obtain federal clearance for any changes in voting procedures. Section 5 also affects some municipalities in seven other states.
On Wednesday, the conservative Supreme Court judges argued that the law is outdated and that mandating Southern states to abide by it dismisses the amount of racial progress in those parts of the country. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia called it "a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement."
When the relevancy of the law came up for debate back in 2009, Justice Roberts warned that "things have changed in the South" and the pre-clearance requirements and coverage formula "raise serious constitutional questions." The formula is based on discriminatory practices and voter registration or participation data from 1964.
On the contrary, proponents of the Voting Rights Act point out that though there is greater voter turnout among minorities in the South, the law was recently used to block voter suppression techniques like strict Voter ID laws and redistricting during the 2012 presidential election.
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