Arizona AG Sues Federal Govt To Overturn Voting Rights Act
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, also known as the guy who tried to ban Mexican-American studies courses in public schools, is suing the federal government claiming that parts of the Voting Rights Act are unconstitutional. This comes after a Colorado congressman also wanted to overturn parts of the VRA calling for election material in languages other than English.
To provide a little background, the Voting Rights Act was created in 1965, a time in which many places employed tactics like literacy tests or poll taxes to discourage minorities from casting their ballots during elections. In 1975 the law was updated to include “language minorities.” The amendment requires certain jurisdictions, including Arizona, to obtain permission from the Department of Justice before making any changes to voting procedures. Along with Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana were amongst the states on the list known for discriminatory practices.
According to reports, the Arizona Attorney General takes issue with the state having to gain preclearance from the federal government before undertaking any new measures related to voting, such as redistricting or making changes to voter identification requirements. In the suit, Horne argues that the way in which the feds determined which jurisdictions would be included is arbitrary, and that:
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. That needs to stop.
In other words, Horne feels that Arizona, home of SB 1070, is being picked upon for stuff that happened in the past and now that everything is going peachy keen in his state with minorities and all, the federal government needs to lay off with their “archaic” laws. In the official press release, Horne goes as far to claim that Arizona is so non-discriminatory that the state once elected a Latino governor. In 1974.
Attorney General Eric Holder responded to the suit stating to msnbc and other media:
The Voting Rights Act plays 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.
Even if Horne’s reasons for wanting to overturn the Voting Rights Act are as innocuous as he claims, which we highly doubt, News Taco is watching how this holds up in federal courts, given that Arizona has become the trend-setter for anti-Latino legislation in the country.
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