Voting Rights Act
July 16, in a speech at the NAACP Annual Convention, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that Congress has “a rare and historic opportunity” to pass legislation “restoring, and even strengthening modern voting protections.” The attorney general was referring to the possibility that Congress would act in response to the June 25, 2013, Supreme Court ruling, in Shelby County v. Holder, which held that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act — the formula determining which jurisdictions had to seek Justice Department “pre-clearance” for changes in voting procedures — was unconstitutional because it was “based on decades-old date and eradicated practices.” Holder also said that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division…
