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High Court to Hear Challenge to Voting Rights Act
Provision forcing local governments, mainly in South, to clear changes with feds at issue
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Jan 9, 09 3:23 PM CST
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(Newser)
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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.