High Court to Hear Challenge to Voting Rights Act

The US Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case that challenges a central section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act designed to protect minority voters in discriminatory districts, the New York Times reports. Section 5 of the law, which forces many Southern states and select districts elsewhere to get permission from the federal government before changing election rules, is at issue.

The plaintiff is a Texas district incorporated in the 1980s that claims it has no history of discrimination, and seeks self-determination and the removal of stigma associated with the classification. Chief Justice John Roberts fought against the 1982 extension of the requirement; President Bush urged the court not to hear the case. (More US Supreme Court stories.)