Today the Supreme Court made a great decision in striking down - TopicsExpress

Today the Supreme Court made a great decision in striking down Section 4 of the Voter Rights Act! This removes the need for open-ended federal oversight when redistricting/requiring ID for 15 states (or parts thereof) who, 50 years ago, were using discriminatory practices against minorities. This includes parts of Michigan, California, New York, South Dakota, and Florida, as well as all of Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Mississippi. The reason for the Supreme Court decision is that the formula used is outdated. The original VRA section 4 was based on the fact that in the 1960s and 1970s, some states used a voting test and had low voter turnout. This formula is grossly outdated as it does not account for growth in minority populations and the lack of said voting tests being used today, hence the decision by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court did NOT overturn section 5, which requires oversight when changing voting laws. But as has been pointed out, the overall practice of federal oversight is called into question with this ruling, since Congress now either has to do nothing, or something relative to the forumula used in section 4 of the VRA.