Good Sahil Kapur piece about why Capitol Hill Republicans, especially in the House, are not going to allow any rehabilitation of the Voting Rights Act. The political gains of allowing the formerly covered states to back to the same old ways of limiting minority and poor voting are simply too great. The head of the relevant House Committee, Chairman Trent Franks told reporters “I am just of the opinion today that we should do as the court said and that is to not focus on punishing the past but on building a better future.”
This comes on the heels of rapid moves in numerous Southern states to push through renewed crackdowns on voting in the aftermath of the Court’s VRA ruling.
A few examples.
Texas advances new Voter ID law in the aftermath of VRA decision.
North Carolina advances bill to impose Voter ID and dramatically curtailing early voting and same day registration.
Florida to resume voter roll purge after VRA ruling.
And remember, this ruling only came down one month ago. So in other words, it’s just open season on voting rights.
