Voting Rights Act Is Up For Debate In Arizona

Story first appeared in Politico
The state of Arizona filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the federal government’s authority to enforce part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, becoming the first state to challenge the constitutionality of sections of the federal law that bars states from denying or limiting a person’s right to vote based on their race or color.
State Attorney General Tom Horne argues in the suit, which was filed in District of Columbia District Court, that a provision in the law that requires several states including Arizona to get approval from the Justice Department for changes in voting procedures is unconstitutional.
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Horne said the portions of the Voting Rights Act requiring preclearance of all voting changes are either archaic, not based in fact, or subject to completely subjective enforcement based on the whim of federal authorities.
For close to four decades, Arizona and its municipalities have needed to get Justice Department approval for changes to voting procedures, driver’s licenses and school district boundaries. Importantly this year, the federal government must also approve the state’s redistricting efforts.
Horne says Arizona has been subjected to enforcement actions for problems that were either corrected nearly 40 years ago and have not been repeated, or penalized for alleged violations that have no basis in the Constitution, and that needs to stop. Horne has been leading the state’s fight to uphold its tough anti-illegal immigration laws alongside Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.
But Attorney General Eric Holder said that he plans to fight the suit because the Voting Rights Act continues to play a vital role in our society by ensuring that every American has the right to vote and to have that vote counted.
Holder said the Department of Justice will vigorously defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act in this case, as it has done successfully in the past, noting that the provisions for preclearance — which Arizona is challenging as “archaic” — were reauthorized by Congress in 2006 with overwhelming and bipartisan support.
And some Democrats in the state support continued federal scrutiny of the state’s voting procedures and redistricting.
State Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Democrat from Phoenix said there is a reason Arizona is on the list, and that is because they have a history of discrimination, a history of unfairness.
A decade ago, during the last round of redistricting, the Justice Department required the state’s independent redistricting commission to redraw its maps after determining that the new lines would disadvantage Hispanic voters.