The Effect of the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Ruling in Georgia: A Talk with Emory’s Merle Black

Emory University

On Tuesday, June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  

In a 5-4 decision, the Court found Section 4 of the Act to be unconstitutional.  Section 4 outlined a formula which was used to determine which states and other jurisdictions would get extra Justice Department supervision, because of past discrimination in voting laws.  

Georgia was one of the states covered by Section 4, and the Supreme Court ruling frees the state from the requirement that it pre-clear changes in voting laws with the Justice Department. 

WABE’s Denis O’Hayer spoke with Emory University political science professor Merle Black about what the decision might mean for future elections and voting rights battles in Georgia.  Prof. Black has studied voting and elections in the South for decades.

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