Supreme Court strikes down a central pillar of the Voting Rights Act

In a transformational ruling, the high court says a decades-old formula intended to protect vulnerable voters is now outdated

SCOTUS
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, ruling that Section 4 of the law is unconstitutional.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court said that Section 4, which established a formula for determining which historically discriminatory jurisdictions needed Justice Department approval before changing their voting laws, was critical to protecting minority voters in the 1960s, but outdated today.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.