The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Voting Rights Act Is Outmoded, Unworkable | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Section 5 was a valuable tool in the fight against systemic disenfranchisement, but it now facilitates the very discrimination it was designed to prevent. Indeed, the prohibition on retrogression effectively requires districting that assures that minority voters are the majority in some districts — an inherently race-conscious mandate. The law, most recently renewed in 2006 for another 25 years, is based on deeply flawed assumptions and outdated statistical triggers, and it flies in the face of the 15th Amendment's requirement that all voters be treated equally.'

'Even as Section 2 requires race-based districting, Section 5, along with the 14th and 15th amendments, prohibit it. These tensions cannot but produce chaotic proceedings like those here, which are replicated every redistricting cycle.'