The Voting Rights Act After the Shelby Decision

On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law. Section 2 of the Act applied a nationwide prohibition against the denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on literacy tests. The Act also contained special enforcement provisions targeted at those areas of the country where Congress believed the potential for discrimination to be the greatest (Section 5 of the VRA). Under Section 5, jurisdictions covered by these special provisions could not implement any change affecting voting until the Attorney General or the U.S. States District Court for the District of Columbia determined that the change did not have a discriminatory purpose and would not have a discriminatory effect.

On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder found the formula in Section 4 of the VRA, which determined the jurisdictions subject to federal preclearance of voting laws under Section 5, to be unconstitutional. The Court’s 5-4 decision has effectively rendered Section 5 moot.

In light of the Shelby decision and the continuing national debates, sociologist Obie Clayton will organize a symposium at Clark Atlanta University on the role of racial/ethnic and gender integration in bringing about successful political and civic outcomes for African American, Latinos, Native Americans and other minorities. Conference participants will review the state of knowledge and scholarship on several of the major issues pertaining to the VRA, giving special attention to voter rights after the Shelby decision. Participants will also examine what works for incorporation in the re-evaluation of voter rights policy.