"Voting Rights Act still serves purpose"
When a judge turned back a challenge to Rep. Ed Pastor's congressional district, he cited the Voting Rights Act as the reason he could not permit a redrawing that diluted minority votes.
When Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission was crafting the state's legislative districts, the Voting Rights Act was clearly a major factor in creating nine majority-minority districts, up from the previous seven.
The two cases illustrate why it's not too early to think about 2007.
That's when key provisions of the Voting Rights Act come up for reauthorization. Section 5 of the act requires that areas with histories of racial discrimination clear their redistricting maps with the Justice Department. Other provisions of the act require election material in other languages and enable challenges to at-large elections that often inhibit minorities' ability to elect candidates of their choosing. -- Voting Rights Act still serves purpose by O. Ricardo Pimentel (Arizona Republic)