Collins Applauds Voters’ Rights Decision

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“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court gives equality to every American in the way we elect our leaders and civil servants”

Ninth district congressman Doug Collins issued a press release yesterday, lauding Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling overturning sections four and five of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court gives equality to every American in the way we elect our leaders and civil servants,”

Collins said. Georgia was one of several states implicated in the legislation.

Commenting on the ruling today, National Review’s Andy McCarthy said from the outset the law walked a thin constitutional line. Section five was ruled unconstitutional. In this section, certain states, including Georgia, were required to seek permission from the federal government before changing any voting laws or procedures. The requirements were put in place to prevent states from discriminating against African American voters four decades ago. McCarthy’s point is that section five was unconstitutional to begin with. Writing on Breitbart news website yesterday, Ken Klukowski said aside from the rulings n sections four and five, the VRA remains mostly in tact.

Despite the slight change to the law, the move received fierce backlash from the Left, including caustic cavil from President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. While Obama and Holder said they were deeply disappointed—Holder said it was a “setback”—Al Sharpton went so far as to say that SCOTUS cancelled the dream of MLK. More soberly, though, Joel B. Pollack writing on Brietbart this week hailed the move triumphantly as progress for the nation. “The decision is a win for the county as a whole,” he said, “both as a confirmation as our progress and as an affirmation of states constitutional powers.”

In his ruling Chief Justice John Roberts said that the sections was based on obsolete statistics and information and that it violated the Constitution, while Justice Thomas said that a great deal has changed in the South in the last 40 almost 50 years since the law was passed.

Closer to home, the Georgia GOP also issued a press release applauding the ruling:

“The State of Georgia has come a long way since the Democrat’s policies of division that disenfranchised minority voters and made fair representation an anomaly. Today’s Georgia is a vibrant and diverse state that is growing again under the leadership of the party of Lincoln. The Georgia Republican Party supports fair and equal treatment for all and welcomes every citizen to participate in the political process and join our ranks regardless of their ethnicity or background. We applaud today’s landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court and will continue as a united Republican Party to ensure that the political process in this great state is always open to all.”

Previously in the Obama Administration, invoked the VRA to block states cited in the act from implementing Voter ID laws; Texas was one of these states. Moments following the decision Texas announced it would pursue a voter ID law.

The essence of the ruling is that it returns sovereignty to states where it was formerly deprived under the act.

Although Collins praised the decision, he said more needs to be done.

“Even in the divisive times we find ourselves in right now,”

he said.

“Congress must find a way to come together, make smart decisions for the wellbeing of our citizenry, and rework the current formula to get it right. We call ourselves the freest country in the world, well it is time to start acting like it and put our own people before the politics.”

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