Voting districts designed to increase the chances of electing minority candidates, a fixture in the South, could be dismantled if the Supreme Court invalidates a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges Section 5 of the 1965 landmark law. The section bars all or part of 16 states, including Louisiana, from making any changes to their election procedures without first proving the changes wouldn’t discriminate against minority voters. A ruling is expected in a few months.

If the court rules Section 5 is no longer necessary, states and counties and local governments subject to the provision would not have to submit new election maps to the Justice Department for review.

Civil rights advocates say that would open the door for jurisdictions like many in the South — where blacks tend to vote for black candidates and whites tend to vote for white candidates — to redraw districts in a way that makes it harder for minorities to get elected.

“There is no doubt in my mind that if there is no Section 5, the eight black (state) Senate districts in Alabama would disappear in the very near future,” said Democratic state Sen. Hank Sanders, who holds one of those eight seats.

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Most state legislatures would push more minority voters into one district, said David Bositis, a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that focuses on issues affecting blacks.

“White voters in most of the Southern states, not all… are Republicans and so the whiter the district, the more likely it’s going to be a Republican district,’’ Bositis said. “They’re going to want to pack black voters into as few districts as possible.’’

Read more at the Shreveport Times.

The Justice Department's rejection of South Carolina's voter ID law probably won't prevent other states from adopting similar measures, analysts say.

"Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to have a significant chilling effect," said Wendy Weiser, a voter ID opponent and lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University law school.

The South Carolina law would have required voters to show one of five government-issued IDs — such as a drivers license or passport — before casting a ballot.

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Most states can change their election laws without having to get advance approval from the federal government. And those that do need approval can turn to the courts if the Justice Department says no, noted David Bositis, an analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

He said many states already have passed tougher voter ID laws or other measures — such as shortening early-voting days — that critics say have a discriminatory impact.


Read more at USA Today.

The last few weeks of the lame-duck session have dragged on for Artur Davis, who has had little say during the final weeks of his congressional career.

The Alabama Democrat no longer has an office in the ornate Cannon House Office Building. Like other lawmakers who lost races this year, his office was moved to an assigned cubicle in the basement of another building.

But Davis said he's "doing fine, overall" and looking forward to practicing law in the Washington area.

Davis said he has no intention of returning to politics -- unless the right offer comes along, complete with a well-stocked campaign fund and a well-planned campaign strategy.

But he plans to remain politically involved and support moderate Democrats. He also plans to be involved in education reform, citing his interest in a new program created by Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington's public schools.

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David Bositis, a political analyst, said it hurt that Davis wasn't supported by the Alabama Democratic Conference, an influential black political group.

Despite the tensions that surfaced between Davis and black political leaders, conference chairman Joe Reed "is a total pragmatist who would have "held his nose" and supported Davis if he'd viewed him as the better candidate, said Bositis, a senior analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on issues affecting African Americans.

This article was previously available at The Montgomery Advertiser.

WASHINGTON — For many young civil rights workers in 1964, there was no better place than Mississippi to challenge a system that kept blacks voiceless and disenfranchised.

The state had one of the largest black populations in the South. Yet, less than 5 percent of blacks were registered to vote, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. In some counties, not a single black person was registered.

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”It was a major national event and it had an impact on shaping public opinion on civil rights nationally,” said David Bositis, a senior analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “Freedom Summer was important because it brought to the North what was going on in Mississippi.”

This article was previously available at clarionledger.com.