Supreme Court Narrows Scope of Voting Rights Act

By Mark Walsh

WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court last week narrowed the scope of the federal Voting Rights Act in a ruling that will allow local governments, including school boards, to shift decisionmaking authority without seeking approval of the federal government.

Noting that it was the first time the High Court had rejected the position of the Justice Department on the scope of the voting-rights law, civil-rights advocates denounced the 6-to-3 decision in two consolidated cases involving black county commissioners in Alabama.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 covers nine states and jurisdictions in seven other states that had a history of racial...