Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, hailed today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In an 8-1 decision, the Court allowed the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District in Texas to opt out of Section 5 of the Act – a provision requiring jurisdictions with histories of voter discrimination to vet electoral changes with the Justice Department – while turning back a constitutional challenge to that provision.

“Today’s sensible decision by the Supreme Court will ensure that a vital part of the Voting Rights Act will remain,” said Nadler. “When Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006, we amassed a record of over 16,000 pages demonstrating the continuing need for this essential piece of civil rights legislation. As Chief Justice Roberts noted in the decision, ‘[t]he historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable.’ Section 5 has been a bulwark against disenfranchisement and a legislative guarantee of the rights spelled out in the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. Today’s decision is a great victory for voter enfranchisement and inclusion.”

Section 5 is essential for detecting and preempting official changes to state and local electoral systems that have or would have the effect of discrimination against voters on the basis of race. In its decision, the Court did broaden the so-called “bailout” provisions of the Act to include smaller jurisdictions like the Municipal Utility District that brought the case, but the stringent standards which must be met for Section 5 preclearance requirements remain in place.
Nadler and a bipartisan group of lawmakers who had been instrumental in the reauthorization effort – including Reps. John Conyers, James Sensenbrenner, Melvin Watt and former Rep. Steve Chabot – filed an amicus brief in March on this case, arguing that Section 5 is still relevant today, 40 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and that it must be upheld. Nadler attended the Court’s oral arguments on the case this April, and, in 2006, he was the senior Democrat on the Constitution Subcommittee which wrote the Act’s reauthorization.