Politics & Government

Cardin: Voting Rights Act Decision 'Erroneous'

Sen. Ben Cardin said the US Supreme Court's decision to strike down part of the Voting Rights Act is "erroneous."

By Bryan P. Sears

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin Tuesday decried a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a portion of the Voting Rights Act.

“Congress must act quickly to reverse today’s erroneous decision by the Supreme Court which overturned several important precedents in a fit of judicial activism," Cardin wrote in a statement.

"As much as we wish it wasn’t so, racism has not disappeared from America and there continue to be individuals and groups who would use our voting system to deliberately minimize the rights of minority voters," Cardin said in his statement. "Congress overwhelmingly reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006 after building an extensive record that made a compelling case for the continued need to protect minority voters from discrimination."

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, struck down portions of the law that establish a formula determining which areas of the country are subject to a pre-clearance review of any possible changes to voting laws.

Nearly all of the states to which the law applies are southern states.

The majority of the court held that Congress, which recently reauthorized the law, could not continue to use a formula created 40 years ago and must update it to reflect the current times.

"I strongly agree with Justice Ginsburg’s dissent that ‘in truth, the evolution of voting discrimination into more subtle second-generation barriers is powerful evidence that a remedy as effective as preclearance remains vital to protect minority voting rights and prevent backsliding,'" Cardin said in his statement.

"I am deeply disappointed that the Court put voting rights in jeopardy by ignoring reality and disregarding the power of Congress to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution by ‘appropriate legislation," Cardin said in his statement.


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