High court sidesteps decision on voting rights case

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday declined to decide whether a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is constitutional, sidestepping by an 8-1 vote the dilemma at the heart of a closely watched case.

The disputed provision gives the U.S. Justice Department power to review proposed election-law changes in several states, mostly in the South, and many other counties and municipalities, where race discrimination had been most flagrant. The case was shaping up to be a defining test of an ideologically split court that has been increasingly suspicious of government policies attempting to remedy racial bias.

Yet, the justices opted to avoid the constitutional question and, rather, narrowly decided that it should be easier for certain political jurisdictions to be exempt from the so-called pre-clearance requirements.

The decision generally would allow all counties and other political subdivisions that can show they have not used a forbidden voting test or other discriminatory measure for 10 years to be free of Justice Department oversight.

Only Justice Clarence Thomas, the current court's only African American, said the justices should have decided the looming constitutional issue. He would have struck down the law.

The Voting Rights Act, a landmark of Congress' civil rights agenda in the 1960s, has been repeatedly renewed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court over the years.

A small Texas utility district challenged the provision after the 2006 renewal. The utility district said the law unconstitutionally infringed on state powers and, in a practical vein, was no longer necessary because of changes in voter registration and turnout by racial minorities.

The challengers and other critics of the Voting Rights Act said the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama, showed that the law was no longer needed. The law's defenders, including the Justice Department in both the Bush and Obama administrations, said minorities still face intimidation and discrimination at the polls.