Page 12 - Voting Procedures News Today

Asian-americans, in terms even of white voters in the middle of some big city in the north. thats a possibility too. but lets get serious about it. i think the way to approach this is for the democrats to say, look, lets move forward here. this is an opportunity to renew for the next century the spirit of the civil rights acts of the 60s. they need to seize the momentum here because -- and at the very least what theyre going to have to do is raise a whole lot of money for a whole lot of lawsuits...

Discriminatory voting schema, to that they basically have to go and get checked out by the justice department first whenever they make a change, were going to redistrict, change things about our voting procedures. got to go to the justice department and say, hey, is this cool? the reason for this, of course, there is a long history in which many parts of this country used their voting rules explicitly as ways of denying the vote to african-americans but also other people of color, right? there i...

Justice department first whenever they make a change, were going to redistrict, were going to change things about our voting procedures. you got to go to the justice department and say, hey, is this cool? the reason for this, of course, there is a long history in which many parts of this country have used their voting rules explicitly as ways of denying the vote to african-americans but also other people of color, right? there is a lot of worry that this thing is going to be killed by this court...

The u.s. supreme court on the verge of two major decisions, dealing with racial discrimination in the country. in the coming weeks, affirmative action programs at the nations public colleges and universities could be uprooted and a federal statute that guards against discrimination in state and local voting procedures could be weakened. joining me is ary melberg, host of msnbcs "the cycle." its a pleasure to have you here away from those cyclists, this way you can talk on your own. court is soon...

Chimney, so simple, yet so poignant. everybody has their eyes on it. it means so much to so many people, whether or not youre catholic, and if you take a look this morning at st. peters square, there are people out there, and ill tell you, the weather is not hospitable. its cold here, its raining on and off, but theres expectations. were waiting. they will say that in italian here. what we know is this, this is a very big day for several reasons. why? there are a lot of issues on the table. and ...

Were hoping the justices do the same thing. >> when you listen to states and local municipalities who want to have control of their own voting procedures over their own elections. >> but they do. thats what gets lost here. so first of all, you can do anything thats not discriminatory, right? the only time that they get stopped -- its very rare -- is when something is actually discriminatory. that sort of control runs counter to the purposes of our constitution. like we believe in this country. y...

Probably or possibly struck down. if that happens, given how much attention we did pay in this past election to attempts to restrict the right to vote to make it hard for people to vote, do you think theres enough of an outcry in the country to take on bigger national protections of voting? >> krystal, i share your opinion in wanting a section 5 for everybody. i really doubt that states are going to want to give up that power to the federal government. but i do think that in looking forward, if ...

1965 to prevent racial discrimination, to stop the taxes, literacy taxes and violence rampant across jim crowe south. nine states are required, mostly in the south, to get federal permission before changing their voting procedures. this provision stopped unfair voting changes like districts redrawn to minimize the vote of african-americans. recently, its been used to block photo id laws in south carolina and texas. and cutbacks in early voting in florida. yet, in 2009, chief justice roberts wrot...

Supreme court will take up a challenge to the voting right act and it could have a massive impact on u.s. elections. at the heart is section 5, which requires certain town, counties and states to get pre-clearance from a court before making changes to voting procedures in districts. here to break it down is the former assistant district attorney. >> great to see you, shannon. >> shannon: elizabeth, what is at stake snitch the voting rights act is one of the most iconic laws that has passed in th...

Reid, senior correspondent. this was a big win today in that pennsylvania courtroom. >> it absolutely was. it was critical. not only did pennsylvania have the most restrictive voter i.d. law in the country, it also is one of the most restrictive states when it comes to voting, period. so really what this means is that whereas the state couldnt even get to 10,000 of these i.d.s out of about a half a million they thought they needed, now there isnt going to be that worry that nearly a half a milli...