The right's systematic assault on DEMOCRACY

The right to vote free of racial discrimination remains under assault.

- Jesse Jackson

The Voting Rights Act (VRA), initially passed in 1965, was the great triumph of the civil rights movement. For decades, it provided African Americans legal protections for the right to vote. Now, right-wing activist judges have enlisted in the partisan effort to gut the law.

Section 5 of the VRA requires pre-screening by the Justice Department of changes to voting rights in states that had suppressed the right to vote during the 100 years of segregation. Section 2 prohibits actions that would deny or abridge “the rights of all citizens to vote on account of color or race.” It applies nationally and is permanent.

The Voting Rights Act initially enjoyed bipartisan support. Under Richard Nixon, however, Republicans adopted what they called the “Southern strategy,” seeking to gain partisan advantage in the wake of the civil rights movement by grounding the party in the embittered whites across the South. They became vocal opponents of civil rights – and African Americans began voting overwhelmingly for Democrats.

So right-wing Republicans launched an assault on voting rights, with partisan judges taking the lead. A first major step was the astounding decision in Shelby County v. Holder in which Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a partisan majority of judges, gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, ignoring precedent, legislative history, a continued record of abuses, and virtually unanimous congressional support for renewal.