The Voting Rights Act, first signed into law in 1965, was a seminal victory of the civil rights movement. American citizens withstood beatings, fire hoses and dogs to see the law passed. Some even gave their lives.
For decades since, the law has protected the right to vote for millions of America’s citizens — regardless of faith, color or creed. While this country has made progress, it is still a long way from saying that every citizen can vote without any form of infringement. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling gives "carte blanche" to states, with a history of voter suppression, to amp up the process. For example, changes in voting procedures that had required advance federal approval, including voter identification laws and restrictions on early voting, will now be subject only to after-the-fact litigation.
"With today’s decision," said Greg Abbott, Texas’ attorney general, "the state’s voter ID law will take effect immediately. Redistricting maps passed by the Legislature may also take effect without approval from the federal government."
This is a very dark day for American democracy. The Southern states will be allowed, as they were allowed previously, to write their own voting requirements. This is one of the payoffs the ultra conservatives have been striving for in the past several years.
I was 20 years old in 1965, continuing to ride in the back of buses, marching, teaching literacy and organizing with the Treme Area Project in New Orleans registering blacks to vote. Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court striking down parts of the Voting Rights Act is more than a disappointment — it’s an injustice. The majority is hypocritical by striking down one of the most considered laws Congress has passed while condemning "judicial activism."
There is above all the 15th Amendment, passed after a horrific civil war and more than a century of brutal oppression of a class of people defined by the color of their skin, declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" and explicitly commands that "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Thus, the 15th Amendment unquestionably states that Congress has jurisdiction to enforce laws to prevent racial voter discrimination. And clearly, racial voter discrimination is still rampant in the South, much less in other areas of the country.
The court also ignored the "bail out" provision — an out for any state of this so-called "burdensome" and "outdated" act. All a state has to do to get out from under scrutiny was to prove that for the last 10 years, there have been no instances of voter suppression. Instead of making the states do that, the Supreme Court lets them off the hook.
Yes, a lot of time has elapsed, and some things have changed. But it is disingenuous for the court to pretend that in the past two national elections there has not been massive voter disenfranchisement and discrimination in several states — Ohio and Florida being the most egregious examples.
In the last few years, Republicans have dramatically stepped up their efforts to limit voting access. They’ve tried passing restrictive voter ID laws, cutting back early-voting hours and eliminating same-day voter registration. These threats are real.
Our electoral system works best when all of our voices are heard — not when they’re silenced or muzzled. At least Section 5 is still alive. Hopefully, Congress will rewrite the coverage formula of Section 4 to include all states.
Contact U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to exercise vigilance over an issue in which states continue to invent new ways to surgically excise voters in order to create a false electoral majority.
