About this episode
The Voting Rights Act turns 60 today. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, with the goal of ensuring that Black Americans could actually exercise their constitutional right to vote. But the landmark legislation — or at least what’s left of it — is facing new challenges. Roughly a decade ago, the Supreme Court gutted one of its key provisions. And late last week, the justices signaled they could be ready to strike a second major blow to the law. It all comes amid an increasingly ugly redistricting fight that’s pitting red states against blue states ahead of next year’s midterms. Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, joins us to talk about the latest threats to the Voting Rights Act, and why decades later we’re still talking about decades after its passage.
And in headlines: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly weighing a full occupation of Gaza, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a task force on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and Rwanda became the third African nation to agree to take in U.S. deportees.
Show Notes:
- Check out Rick's blog – https://electionlawblog.org/
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
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- For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
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