Without ruling on the constitutionality of Section 5, the court asserted that the coverage formula itself was unconstitutional due to its effect on only particular states. Though the preclearance provision had protected voting rights for many decades, the court eliminated it. In this case, Shelby County alleged that these provisions were an unconstitutional use of federal power that discriminated against certain states subject to Section 5. The case was brought by Shelby County to contest both the preclearance provision in Section 5, as well as the coverage formula in Section 4(b), which determined the jurisdictions subject to preclearance. At this time, the court was tasked with hearing the arguments of the case Shelby County v. The attack on the VRA began in June 2013. Despite the VRAвЂ™s importance to the Civil Rights Movement, both then and now, the court appears to be on a mission to ensure its destruction. The intent, necessity and impact of these sections have been grossly neglected by the Supreme Court. This newly adopted interpretation was dubbed вЂњthe results test.вЂќ This section was expanded by Congress in 1982 to prevent such procedures if their ultimate impact was discriminatory, regardless of whether the procedure was enacted with discriminatory intent. Section 2 reiterated the language of the Fifteenth Amendment, prohibiting voting procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, sex or language. It served as a national answer to the discretion that local jurisdictions used to prevent racial minorities from exercising their constitutional rights. Given decades of voter suppression, this provision was a necessary one. These proposals would be denied if deemed discriminatory. Its strongest provision was found in Section 5 of the act, which outlined the practice of preclearance, or the ability of the federal government to вЂњpreclearвЂќ proposed election procedures by jurisdictions that had a history of discriminatory election practices.ДЇrom its inception until 2014, covered states, determined by a formula in Section 4(b), were required to submit their proposals to the Department of Justice. The VRA drew its strength from two important sections, both of which have been decimated by the Supreme Court. The VRA at last responded to discriminatory election practices by establishing a federal standard of voting rights, one that extended beyond only white citizens. The Jim Crow-era practice of discrimination in election procedures continued until 1965 - the year of the VRAвЂ™s passage. Though the right was enshrined in the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, local jurisdictions used misinformation, discrimination and violence to ensure that this right was merely an idea on a document. Through discriminatory actions such as grandfather clauses, poll taxes and literacy tests, local registrars ensured that many Black Americans, particularly in the South, were unable to vote. This granted states and local governments the discretion to implement any desired voting requirements.ДЄs a result, states employed discriminatory procedures in reaction to the Reconstruction Amendments that enfranchised Black Americans. Prior to the VRA, there was no national standard in election practices.

It was the culmination of years of discrimination, advocacy, sacrifice and a relentless pursuit of justice by activists from across the country. The VRAвЂ™s creation was not a simple endeavor. To understand why this contest gained widespread attention and why the caseвЂ™s outcome worried voting rights activists, one must turn to the creation of the VRA itself. Both policies, they alleged, violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 through its disparate impact on racial minorities.ДЄs an organization of voting rights activists, UA Vote Everywhere has been following this case closely. The highly anticipated case examined two policies contested by the DNC in Arizona. On July 1, the newly formed Supreme Court issued a decision on the case Brnovich v. To achieve a truly just democracy, one that is representative of all citizens, Americans must reject the idea that discriminatory election practices are an antiquated phenomenon.

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