Shelby County, Alabama no longer needs to be under federal oversight for discriminatory voting practices, according to the Supreme Court. It struck down Section 4 of the pivotal Voting Rights Act today, June 24.
Section 4 required certain places to get clearance from the federal government before making changes to voter registration, polling places, and local voting laws. The reason for the law was systemic disenfranchisement of African Americans from Reconstruction (after the Civil War) into the 1960s. Because of that history, certain places had to prove that election and voting changes did not have a discriminatory effect.
The justices found that the requirement for preclearance from the federal government is unconstitutional.
