GOP praises Voting Rights Act ruling
But Desoto Democrats say Supreme Court decision ‘out of touch’
Mississippi and DeSoto County leaders broke along predictable lines Tuesday in their reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court decision that certain state and local governments no longer need federal approval for changes to election laws or procedures.
A majority of justices said the Voting Rights Act of 1965 doesn’t reflect racial progress made over the past half century.
The act requires Mississippi and several other states, mainly in the South, to get Justice Department approval for changes that might adversely affect the voting rights of minorities.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, in a news conference at the state Capitol in Jackson, said he plans to move ahead with plans to implement a controversial voter ID law because of the change, possibly having the requirement in place for the June 2014 federal primary elections.
“We’re not the same old Mississippi that our fathers’ fathers were,” said Hosemann, a Republican and the state’s top elec- tions official.
Other Republicans agreed, including Kevin Blackwell, chairman of the DeSoto County Republican Party.
“It was a long time coming,” Blackwell said of the court’s decision. “I agree with the justices that things have changed enough that such direct supervision isn’t necessary.”
But Democrats, both locally and at the state level, held a different view.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision will make it harder for many Americans to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, the only black member of Mississippi’s congressional delegation,
said in a release.
Samuel Williams, chairman of the DeSoto County Democratic Party, said it was only necessary to look as far as municipal elections earlier this month to see that disparity still exists.
Republicans, all white, made a clean sweep of offices in DeSoto County cities, many of them not even facing general election competition.
“I think the Supreme Court is out of touch with the feelings of people here,” Williams said. “Look at the number of minorities elected locally and tell me if there’s really no need for measures that ensure equality.”
Mississippi’s population is about 37 percent black, and its voting-age population — those 18 or older — is about 35 percent black. In the House map drawn in 2012, about 34 percent of districts are majorityblack.
In the Senate map, about 29 percent of the districts are majority-black.
State House Elections Committee chairman Bill Denny, R-Jackson, said that even without a requirement for federal approval of redistricting plans, he still would’ve drawn a plan that includes enough majority- black districts to roughly reflect Mississippi’s demographics.
“We’ve lived under this now that long,” Denny said of the 48-year- old Voting Rights Act. “Why would you want to take the chance of abusing what you’ve done? I just wouldn’t do that.” The Associated Press contributed to this story.