WASHINGTON -- The part of the Voting Rights Act that requires certain parts of the country, including Alabama, to have their elections and voting procedures closely monitored by the Justice Department was upheld by a federal judge in a ruling released this morning.

Officials in Shelby County had argued the law was unnecessary, burdensome and unfair and that Congress should not have reauthorized it for another 25 years.

"Bearing in mind both the historical context and the extensive evidence of recent voting discrimination reflected in that virtually unprecedented legislative record, the Court concludes that 'current needs' -- the modern existence of intentional racial discrimination in voting -- do, in fact, justify Congress's 2006 reauthorization of the preclearance requirement imposed on covered jurisdictions by Section 5, as well as the preservation of the traditional coverage formula embodied in Section 4(b)," according to the order today from U.S. District Judge John Bates.

Bates sided with the U.S. Justice Department and several others who intervened to defend the Voting Rights Law.

"Understanding the preeminent constitutional role of Congress under the Fifteenth Amendment to determine the legislation needed to enforce it, and the caution required of the federal courts when undertaking the 'grave' and 'delicate' responsibility of judging the constitutionality of such legislation -- particularly where the right to vote and racial discrimination intersect -- this Court declines to overturn Congress's carefully considered judgment," he wrote.

The director of the non-profit that financed Shelby County's lawsuit said this morning that he expects the county will appeal the decision, first to the federal appeals court in the District of Columbia and eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"To require today that only southern states should be burdened with a federal statue concerning elections is wrong. Sections 4(b) and 5 are stuck in a time warp that unfairly punishes parts of the country for the sins of their grandfathers. It ill serves our nation's remarkable racial evolution," said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation.

The case has been watched nationally because it is a likely candidate to return the entire issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.