According to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, there’s no need to plug holes in the Voting Rights Act.
via TPM
“There are still very, very strong protections in the Voting Rights Act in the area that the Supreme Court ruled on, which is the question of whether or not certain states — there were, I think 11 states, all Southern states that were required by law to seek precleareance of any changes in where polling places are located and other matters like that,” House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
That would be great if it were true, but less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court declared that racism is over, states began altering their election laws, disenfranchising thousands of voters in the process.
The Department of Justice still has the power to challenge election laws in each state, but only after the fact. While lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of election laws proceed, thousands of voters are disenfranchised because states no longer require advanced approval from the Department of Justice. Damage is already done before a challenge is even heard in court.