The Voting Rights’ Act was passed in the year 1965. In this act, Section 5 states that states have to get approval from the federal government before they can pass a law. This section was first introduced to the states who did not agree with having to take literacy test and other devices they found unfair. It also was applied to the states that had low voter registration and turnout. Over the years, congress extended the law to states that had minority populations and the English-only election ballots. The Voting Rights’ Act also stated that states could be taken off the list as long as there is no problems after ten years of elections. (Brandeisky ect.2014) The Voting Rights’ Act has since played a huge role in the way elections have been
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The most recent was in 2006 where Congress “renewed several key protections, providing for language assistance, Election Day monitors, and Justice Department pre-approval of voting changes.”(The Leadership Conference 2015) States who were still under Section 5 were beginning to say that this section is unconstitutional. The controversy began being recognized when Shelby County, Alabama filed a suit with the federal court in Washington, D.C. declaring that Section 5 is unconstitutional. Shelby County believed that Congress did not have the right to reauthorize Section 5 in 2006.(The Leadership Conference 2015) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found, “Congress drew reasonable conclusions from the extensive evidence it gathered and acted pursuant to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which entrust Congress with ensuring that the right to vote—surely among the most important guarantees of political liberty in the Constitution—is not abridged on account of race. In this context, we owe much deference to the considered judgment of the People's elected representatives.” (The Leadership Conference 2015) …show more content…
The Texas voter ID law says that in order to vote you have to show a valid photo ID. Texas was rejected their first attempt at getting the Texas’ voter ID law passed. The law was not passed because, the Supreme Court believed that the Hispanics who are registered voters would not have a valid photo ID. Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, had different ideas and decided to enforce the voter ID law immediately, despite the ruling of the Supreme Court. After this, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the voter ID law. (Brandeisky etc. 2014)Then in October of 2014, “a federal judge [has] blocked the state’s voter ID law in early October, but a panel of three judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the decision in an Oct. 14 ruling, keeping the law in place for November elections.” (Brandeisky 2014)
According to all the information found, the new law seems to have more disadvantages than advantages. According to one survey that was done, less than 3 percent of the 400 people who were surveyed, did not have the correct ID during the November election. According to Mark P. Jones, a professor at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and an author of the study, "the voter ID law depressed turnout in the 2014 election, but it did so primarily through confusion, not through actually keeping people without IDs from voting,” (Malewitz
The most recent was in 2006 where Congress “renewed several key protections, providing for language assistance, Election Day monitors, and Justice Department pre-approval of voting changes.”(The Leadership Conference 2015) States who were still under Section 5 were beginning to say that this section is unconstitutional. The controversy began being recognized when Shelby County, Alabama filed a suit with the federal court in Washington, D.C. declaring that Section 5 is unconstitutional. Shelby County believed that Congress did not have the right to reauthorize Section 5 in 2006.(The Leadership Conference 2015) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found, “Congress drew reasonable conclusions from the extensive evidence it gathered and acted pursuant to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which entrust Congress with ensuring that the right to vote—surely among the most important guarantees of political liberty in the Constitution—is not abridged on account of race. In this context, we owe much deference to the considered judgment of the People's elected representatives.” (The Leadership Conference 2015) …show more content…
The Texas voter ID law says that in order to vote you have to show a valid photo ID. Texas was rejected their first attempt at getting the Texas’ voter ID law passed. The law was not passed because, the Supreme Court believed that the Hispanics who are registered voters would not have a valid photo ID. Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, had different ideas and decided to enforce the voter ID law immediately, despite the ruling of the Supreme Court. After this, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the voter ID law. (Brandeisky etc. 2014)Then in October of 2014, “a federal judge [has] blocked the state’s voter ID law in early October, but a panel of three judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the decision in an Oct. 14 ruling, keeping the law in place for November elections.” (Brandeisky 2014)
According to all the information found, the new law seems to have more disadvantages than advantages. According to one survey that was done, less than 3 percent of the 400 people who were surveyed, did not have the correct ID during the November election. According to Mark P. Jones, a professor at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and an author of the study, "the voter ID law depressed turnout in the 2014 election, but it did so primarily through confusion, not through actually keeping people without IDs from voting,” (Malewitz