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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Supreme Court Guts Key Part Of Landmark Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday gutted a key part of the landmark Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965 to end a century of attempts by former slaveholding states to block blacks from voting.

In a 5-4 ruling with the court's conservatives in the majority, the justices ruled that Congress had used obsolete reasoning in continuing to force nine states, mainly in the South, to get federal approval for voting rule changes affecting blacks and other minorities.

The court ruled in favor of officials from Shelby County, Alabama, by declaring invalid a section of the law that set a formula that determines which states need federal approval to change voting laws.

President Barack Obama quickly called on Congress to pass a new law to ensure equal access to voting polls for all.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama might just sign an executive order to override the Supreme Court. He does think of himself as a god.

Anonymous said...

Obama has used the same powers (exec. order) as any other pres. Go figure.

Anonymous said...

The smart thing would be to require all states to get federal approval for election changes. SCOTUS would have a problem with that and we know it is going on everywhere.