After almost 50 years of expanding and protecting voting rights, a new threat comes from an unlikely place – the U.S. Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the justices heard oral arguments in Shelby County, AL v. Holder, a case that will decide the survival of preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that require federal oversight of voting practices in 16 covered states including Alabama. The Voting Rights Act, which was passed as result of the Selma to Montgomery march, provides legal protections for individuals, primarily minorities, in states with histories of discriminatory voting practices. Since its passage in 1965, the act has been critical in ensuring that millions of our nation’s minority citizens are guaranteed the right to vote. I feel compelled to write this essay because I am deeply concerned about the erosion of voting rights that sadly still exist in our state and in this nation. Perhaps the biggest irony is that the current threat to this legislation comes from the very state (Alabama) that was the impetus for its passage almost 50 years ago.
In the lawsuit, Shelby County questions whether the preclearance requirement is still necessary to curb actions that would disenfranchise the vote. They argue that the racial and political biases that once existed have subsided, and that the suppression of the minority by the majority is only relevant in a historical context.
Unfortunately, we don’t have to look far to see evidence to the contrary. The actions of state legislatures across this nation prior to the 2012 elections tell a compelling story. Of the nine states that are currently required to obtain preclearance from the federal government, six successfully passed restrictive voting legislation leading up to the 2012 presidential election, including Alabama.
Full Article: The threat from within — the ironic challenge to the Voting Rights Act (opinion from U.S. Rep. Terri A. Sewell) | al.com.