No More Section 4

By Ted Resnikoff

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Supreme_Court_justice_iStock_000001493074XSmall

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Section of Voting Rights Act of 1965 Unconstitutional

Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorizes Congress to determine a formula which is used to identify states that must submit changes in their voting regime to the Federal government for approval. It was included in the landmark Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965 to discrimination against minorities at the ballot box. In todat's ruling, the Supreme Court found that Congress erred by using out-of-date data to renew Section 4 in 2006. Congress is free to create a new formula, although the prospect it will do so is unlikely while the House is controlled by a Republican majority(1). From the web... "The Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, the provision of the landmark civil rights law that designates which parts of the country must have changes to their voting laws cleared by the federal government or in federal court." – Read the story on Huffington Post here. "The Supreme Court on Tuesday effectively struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a 5-to-4 vote, ruling that Congress had not provided adequate justification for subjecting nine states, mostly in the South, to federal oversight." – Read the story on The New York Times here. Learn more about Section 4 of the Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965 here.