the so-called coverage formula in section 4 of the voting rights act was based on where the worst discrimination was occurring at that time. it is that section that was ruled unconstitutional today by a majority of the supreme court, even though the voting rights act had been renewed by congress several times since 1965, including as recently as 2006 by a republican-controlled house. and a republican-controlled senate. and then signed by republican president george w. bush. chief justice john roberts, majority supreme court opinion believes that the republican congress and that republican president did not know what they were doing. if congress had started from scratch in 2006, it plainly could not have enacted the president coverage formula. it would have been irrational