Reuters: U.S.: Voting Rights Act petition reaches Supreme Court

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Voting Rights Act petition reaches Supreme Court Jul 20th 2012, 18:29 WASHINGTON | Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:29pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A legal challenge to the Voting Rights Act, a landmark law adopted in 1965 that barred racial discrimination in voting practices, reached the Supreme Court on Friday. The appeal targets only Section 5 of the law, which says states with a history of discrimination must get permission from the federal government before changing election procedures. The challenge was filed by supporters of a 2008 Kinston, North Carolina, measure that would omit candidates' party affiliations from ballots. The Obama administration used Section 5 to block the Kinston measure in 2009, saying that black voters would be more likely to vote for the wrong person under the new rules. The supporters asked the Supreme Court to hear their case in its upcoming term, which starts in October. Kinston lawyers asked the court to also consider a pending appeal from Shelby County, Alabama, which agrees with Kinston that Section 5 unfairly targets selected governments based on a decades-old formula. There have been more challenges to the Voting Rights Act in the past two years than in the previous 45 year, including recent Section 5 lawsuits from Texas and South Carolina.

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