After the VRA was signed into law in 1965, states and municipalities across the country (but especially in the South) attempted procedural changes that wound up obstructing African Americans’ or Latinos’ access to the ballot or the impact of their voting. The Department of Justice used two parts of the VRA to protect voters and promote fuller participation: Section 4, which established a formula for determining the areas of the country where racial discrimination at the ballot box was most prevalent and where policy changes are intentionally racist, providing strict remedies for such illegalities when appropriate; and Section 5, the “preclearance” clause which freezes changes in election practices or procedures in covered jurisdictions until newly designed ones have been either reviewed by the U.S. attorney general or after a lawsuit has been filed before the district court of Washington, D.C.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 12, 2018 15:22 UTC