On December 16, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates, a Bush Jr. appointee in Washington, D.C., issued a brief order, upholding the action of the U.S. Justice Department (Voting Rights Section) concerning Kinston, North Carolina. North Carolina is one of the states covered by section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Voters in Kinston voted to switch from partisan city elections to non-partisan city elections. But the Voting Rights Section rejected the change, finding that the switch would injure black voters.
The city government accepted that decision, but some voters in Kinston sued. They not only wanted to alter the decision about the type of city elections Kinston should hold, they also wanted to get a ruling that section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. The judge has not yet issued an opinion explaining his reasoning. See this earlier blog post about the case. Chances are, the case is dismissed because the judge believes that private citizens do not have standing to challenge a decision of the Voting Rights Section. UPDATE: here is the one-page order. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.
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Despicable! I hope that they appeal!
Compare the language of 14th Amdt, Sec. 2 and 15th Amdt, Sec. 1.
The ENTIRE 1965 VRA series of cases in SCOTUS has been a giant perversion / subversion of 15th Amdt, Sec. 1.
Nov 1868 – Elephant Prez Grant barely is elected in many northern States.
Elephants in the gerrymander 40th Congress panic.
Jan-Feb 1869 lame duck Elephants in the 40th Congress want/need the black adult male votes in marginal NORTHERN States for future elections. 41st Congress starts 4 Mar 1869 – original Const.
Shock — Most black adult male voters once upon a time were Elephants in the north.
Thus the NO racial stuff in the 15th Amdt — regarding the definition of who can be an Elector/Voter in the U.S.A. — i.e. negative language.
Other election stuff has ZERO to do the 15th Amdt — partisan or nonpartisan elections, ballot access, gerrymanders, etc.
Way too difficult for constitutional law MORONS to understand.
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Uniform POSITIVE definition of Elector in ALL of the U.S.A.
Repeal ALL of the negative language.
P.R. and App.V.
If this case is indeed dismissed, the Alabama case against Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is still pending.