Dick Durbin: “last Saturday was the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision. In this case, a divided…”

“last Saturday was the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision. In this case, a divided Court voted 5-4 to gut the Voting Rights Act. The Court struck down the provision of the Voting Rights Act that required certain jurisdictions with a documented history of discrimination to ``preclear'' any changes to their voting laws with the Department of Justice. In the 3 years since Shelby County, Democrats and a small handful of Republicans have sought to restore the Voting Rights Act. Unfortunately, the majority of Republicans in Congress have obstructed efforts to reinstate robust Federal voting protections. As a result, 2016 will mark the first Presidential election without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act since this historic legislation was signed into law in 1965. The restrictions on voting that many Americans face today can be traced back to the 2010 midterm election. After that election, in which Republicans won control of several State legislative chambers and governorships, State lawmakers across the country introduced burdensome voting laws. These laws ranged from strict voter identification requirements to cuts in early voting. At the time, the Voting Rights Act served as a backstop, preventing States covered by the preclearance requirement from implementing changes that had a discriminatory purpose or effect. That is why the Shelby County decision in 2013 had an immediate impact.…”