Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The fate of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the single most effective law protecting the voting rights of minorities, could hinge on a case heard today in federal district court. Officials in Shelby County, Alabama, contend VRA’s Section 5 requirement is outdated and unconstitutional because it unfairly requires them to pre-clear with federal authorities all changes in their election procedures – from a polling site relocation to a redistricting plan – in order to make sure they are not especially harmful to minority voters. Conservative think tanks and law firms are eagerly helping Shelby County attack the provision. And Chief Justice John Roberts has signaled that he eagerly awaits a chance to review the underpinnings of the VRA because “things have changed in the South” and discrimination, apparently to him, is a distant memory. The case heard today could eventually give Roberts another opportunity to exhibit his aggressive judicial bias in favor of white property rights (i.e., values of the Founding Fathers), strike down a troublesome law, and allow changes in election procedures that advance white establishment interests to the detriment of African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. Sound familiar? Attorneys and researchers who favor keeping the pre-clearance provision have documented continued racially discriminatory election practices in Shelby County, but that may not be enough.