School Concerns Part of Voting Rights Act Renewal

Previously stalled efforts to renew the federal Voting Rights Act rushed to completion this month, as Congress reauthorized several key provisions that were due to expire next year. One requires federal approval of changes to voting procedures—including for school board contests—in nine states and additional counties and towns with a history of discrimination in their elections.

Those jurisdictions are subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act whenever they make any change to procedures, such as in redrawing school board members’ electoral districts. They must submit changes to the federal Department of Justice for approval, a procedure known as preclearance. Districts subject to Section 5 sometimes regard it with frustration because it adds to the cost and difficulty of making even minor changes related to voting.

The newly adopted measure extends Section 5—the preclearance provision—of the Voting Rights Act, first signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 and most recently renewed in 1982,...