Voting Rights Act

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Decades after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, designed to end racial discrimination at the ballot box, America’s government and justice system are aggressively dismantling its protections.

The VRA, born from the brutal assault on peaceful marchers in Selma, Alabama, helped millions of Black Americans overcome Jim Crow barriers and shift U.S. democracy.

Today, the government that promised to secure liberty for all is undermining the VRA. The Department of Justice, under hostile administrations, fights to weaken, delay, or reverse the Act’s safeguards. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, backed by political figures who cloak voter suppression in “state sovereignty” rhetoric, dismantled the pre-clearance mechanism, effectively gutting the VRA.

States like Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, notorious for racial gerrymandering, rushed to redraw district lines and pass voting restrictions to dilute minority votes. They employ tactics like packing Black voters into fewer districts or cracking them across many to neutralize their influence, claiming “fair maps” or “election integrity” as justifications.

The DOJ’s failure to challenge these tactics amounts to complicity in suppressing voting rights. Instead of defending equal access, the DOJ often enables retrograde political forces seeking to reverse civil rights gains. This abdication is a betrayal of the nation’s founding principles and the sacrifices of those who marched for equality.

Opponents of the VRA reframe this assault as a legal debate or fight against judicial activism, but it’s an organized effort to silence communities of color and skew representation toward political majorities. It’s a cynical power grab, not a principled legal disagreement.

Justice delayed is justice denied. The courts have repeatedly ordered fair district maps and prevented discriminatory laws, but states defy these rulings with impunity, disenfranchising minority voters and passing voter ID laws, purges, and polling place closures that disproportionately affect communities of color.

The killing of effective voting rights enforcement was calculated and resulted from indifferent or hostile government. The DOJ’s half-hearted enforcement and tolerance of editorialized “state experimentation” undermine its mission to protect citizens’ rights.

This battle is not over. The recent Supreme Court ruling in Allen v. Milligan is encouraging but insufficient. We need a fully restored and modernized Voting Rights Act with teeth intact, pre-clearance reinstated, and a coverage formula based on current realities, not outdated maps.

John Lewis’s legacy demands it. The millions of Americans still denied a fair vote demand it. The health of our democracy demands it. Citizens cannot wait for political convenience; voting rights are not a bargaining chip.

Congress must act to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (I wouldn’t hold my breath), to undo the damage wrought by Shelby and years of government neglect. The Department of Justice must recommit to proactive enforcement with rigor and urgency.

History will judge us harshly if we allow this assault on voting rights to stand. Democracy thrives only when every eligible citizen can vote freely and equally. Anything less is a mockery of justice, equality, and the American promise.

The time has come to stop pretending voter suppression is anything but what it is: a stain on our nation that must be cleansed by law, courage, and unwavering commitment to civil rights.