Dan Balz: ‘Democrats have no clear strategy to counter voting restrictions’

 

From the Washington Post:

 

The 1965 Voting Rights Act has long stood as a symbol of the progress America has made in the struggle for civil rights and as a guardian of the right of all citizens to vote. Today, with two main provisions stripped of their power by the Supreme Court, the law has become a symbol of the weakening of resistance to the states’ efforts to restrict rather than expand and protect those rights.

In two decisions over eight years, the high court has taken away much of the law’s power, first in 2013 by gutting Section 5, which required states with a history of discrimination to seek clearance from the Justice Department before making any changes in election procedures, and on Thursday [July 1, 2021] by limiting the potential for successfully challenging voting changes after they have been enacted under Section 2.

The decision on Thursday involved two provisions in an Arizona law, one that called for discarding ballots cast at the wrong precinct, the other prohibiting what is known as “ballot harvesting,” a controversial practice in which partisans or activists collect absentee or mail ballots and deliver them to polling places. In allowing those provisions to stand, the court did nothing surprising. Many court watchers expected that to happen.

 

 

Read the full article.