Your Call: What is the current state of the Voting Rights Act?

Published August 6, 2015 at 7:23 AM PDT

African American demonstrators outside the White House March 12, 1965 with signs reading, "We demand the right to vote, everywhere" and protesting police brutality against civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama

Today we mark the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

In 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that states with histories of disenfranchising voters no longer needed federal clearance to enact new voter laws. The Brennan Center for Justice says the ruling unleashed a rash of discriminatory voting laws. This year, 15 states will have more strict rules than they did in 2012. How is this affecting the right to vote? Who is it affecting?

Guests:

Gerry Hebert, the Executive Director and Director of Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center.

Tomas Lopez, Counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, where his work focuses on voting rights and elections.

Web Resources:

The Campaign Legal Center

The Brennan Center for Justice

The Southern Poverty Law Center

Bill Moyers: Book Excerpt Bending Toward Justice

Brennan Center for Justice: Voting Laws Roundup 2015

NY Times: A Dream Undone, Inside the 50 Year Campaign to Roll Back the Voting Rights Act

U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Voting Section