The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder is a big victory for those who want to preserve the Voting Rights Act of 1965, says Nina Perales, Southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). The 8-1 decision maintains the intent of the act but allows a broader range of political entities to apply for exemptions from federal oversight when they change how elections are conducted. Perales argued the last big voting rights case the high court heard -- League of United Latin American Citizens, et al. v. Perry, which led to a 2006 decision that forced a change in Texas' congressional map because the map diluted the strength of minority voters in a Texas congressional district. “I think LULAC v. Perry had a bigger impact on this court’s consideration of the case [Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1] because they had fresh in their minds a decision that they had rendered finding discrimination in a covered jurisdiction in Texas,” Perales says. “And so their direct experience in ruling in LULAC v. Perry, I believe, had an impact on their consideration in this case.”
-- John Council
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