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CIAO DATE: 6/5/2006
Who's Playing Politics?
Edward Blum
January 2006
Abstract
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was enacted as a temporary, emergency measure to prevent jurisdictions from devising new ways to disenfranchise blacks. Today, however, it has been distorted to ensure that racial considerations are heavily weighted in drawing electoral maps. The statute should be allowed to expire when it comes up for reauthorization in 2007 to prevent further abuse.
Government memos leaked to the press are nothing new in Washington, yet they can still command a front-page, above-the-fold headline. The latest came on December 2, 2005, when the Washington Post trumpeted, “Justice Staff Saw Texas Districting as Illegal; Voting Rights Finding on Map Pushed by DeLay Was Overruled.” (Part of this story was recycled by the Post on Monday, January 23, in another front-page, above-the-fold story.)