The Hill - Clyburn: 'Battle rages on' for voting rights

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By Ben Kamisar

One day before President Obama and congressional leaders meet to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said he believes the "battle wages on" for equal voting rights in America.

"I hope that, when we leave that bridge on Saturday, we can work together to fix the Voting Rights Act that has been virtually been dismantled by the recent Shelby decision," Clyburn said Friday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder dismantled a formula that the Justice Department used to decide which areas had to submit any proposed voting law changes to the agency for "preclearance." That way, the Justice Department could halt any changes it believed would cause discriminatory effects.
The Supreme Court ruled that formula unconstitutional because it was outdated. Some lawmakers, led by Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), are backing an updated formula that would take into account recent violations. But so far, that's had no traction in Congress.

That's worrisome for Clyburn, who believes that measures like voter ID laws are modern-day manifestations of denying minorities the right to vote.

"We see these legislatures all over the country putting in place new impediments to voting," he said. "Back in 1965, we were trying to get rid of the poll tax, get rid of full-slate voting and these things that were delusions and denials of the vote. Today, they've gotten some new impediments under the auspices of voter ID."

Clyburn will join lawmakers to mark the anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery, a seminal moment in the civil rights movement. Protesters were attacked by police on a bridge in Selma, Ala., a graphic display of the racism in the South, which helped to galvanize support for the Voting Rights Act.

Clyburn said he and Rep. John Lewis (R-Ga.), a civil rights icon who was at the original Selma marches, said recently that they couldn't have imagined during the civil rights movement that the United States would one day have a black president.

"None of us, neither one of us, felt that we would be able to fulfill those dreams to the extent that we have. And to have the two of us serving together in Congress is absolutely remarkable."

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