This past Wednesday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments surrounding the Voting Rights Act. For those of you who don't know this particular law, it was enacted in 1965 to battle racial discrimination at the voting booth. The act functions such that the government can be held liable for abridging a person's right to vote based on their "race or color." Section 5 of the act states:
"Whenever a State or political subdivision with respect to which the prohibitions set forth in section 4(a) are in effect shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualifications or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect on November 1, 1964, such State or subdivision may institute an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, and unless and until the court enters such judgment no person shall be denied the right to vote for failure to comply with such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure."
