LET’S CLEAR A MISCONCEPTION THAT’S RUNNING RAMPANT AROUND TUMBLR RIGHT NOW.
The Supreme Court did NOT rule that the Voting Rights Act is irrelevant today, and any source that tells you otherwise is incorrect. They did rule that the act, while still necessary, was outdated – as it was created in 1965, and the zoning map that accompanied the law no longer corresponds adequately with the demographics of current America. The Supreme Court ruled to continue to uphold the act, but with a change in the map to better reflect the modern day conditions.
However – and this is where the real problem comes in – it is unclear (and frankly, unlikely) whether or not our partison Congress will be able to come to an agreement on which state’s need to be monitored for voter suppression. If they do not agree on a new map, this will effectively dismantle the Voting Rights Act, and make it impossible to enforce. This is something to worry about and fight against, yes – but you can’t run around saying that the Supreme Court ‘struck down’ a law when it didn’t, even if that’s the projected effect that it will take.
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