For years, support for the VRA was unquestioned. It was the standard. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan — the conservative Republican founder of the modern GOP — signed a 25-year extension of the VRA into law, declaring, “The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its lustre diminished.”
In 2006 — under President George W. Bush — the U.S. Senate voted 98-0 to reauthorize the VRA. “The right of ordinary men and women to determine their own political future lies at the heart of the American experiment,” Bush said.
Since then, something dark shifted in the Republican Party and in American politics. Maybe it was something that had always been creeping under the surface. Maybe it was right in front of us. Maybe we refused to see it.
But, somewhere between Donald Trump demanding to see President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and taking the Oath of Office, the Supreme Court felt empowered to suggest that racism was over in Shelby County. “Our country has changed,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”
Shelby County gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, ending preclearance requirements for states that had the ugliest histories of discriminatory voting practices. Their reasoning? It was outdated, no longer relevant and we simply didn’t need it anymore.
Apparently, we had progressed so far as a society that we no longer needed to check in on states that had Jim Crow laws less than 50 years earlier.
Yet, in his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts tried to settle fears, promising that the decision “in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in [Section] 2.”
Well, that may no longer be the case. We now find ourselves in 2025, with the future of Section 2 very much in doubt as the Supreme Court is set to rehear a critical redistricting case from Louisiana that could eviscerate the last part of the VRA.
In 2006 — under President George W. Bush — the U.S. Senate voted 98-0 to reauthorize the VRA. “The right of ordinary men and women to determine their own political future lies at the heart of the American experiment,” Bush said.
Since then, something dark shifted in the Republican Party and in American politics. Maybe it was something that had always been creeping under the surface. Maybe it was right in front of us. Maybe we refused to see it.
But, somewhere between Donald Trump demanding to see President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and taking the Oath of Office, the Supreme Court felt empowered to suggest that racism was over in Shelby County. “Our country has changed,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”
Shelby County gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, ending preclearance requirements for states that had the ugliest histories of discriminatory voting practices. Their reasoning? It was outdated, no longer relevant and we simply didn’t need it anymore.
Apparently, we had progressed so far as a society that we no longer needed to check in on states that had Jim Crow laws less than 50 years earlier.
Yet, in his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts tried to settle fears, promising that the decision “in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in [Section] 2.”
Well, that may no longer be the case. We now find ourselves in 2025, with the future of Section 2 very much in doubt as the Supreme Court is set to rehear a critical redistricting case from Louisiana that could eviscerate the last part of the VRA.
