A provision in the law is unconstitutional, state Attorney General Tom Horne argues. Ariz. sues feds over Voting Rights Act

The state of Arizona filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the federal government’s authority to enforce part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, becoming the first state to challenge the constitutionality of sections of the federal law that bars states from denying or limiting a person’s right to vote based on their race or color.

A provision in the law that requires several states including Arizona to get approval from the Justice Department for changes in voting procedures is unconstitutional, state Attorney General Tom Horne argues in the suit, which was filed in District of Columbia District Court.


“The portions of the Voting Rights Act requiring preclearance of all voting changes are either archaic, not based in fact, or subject to completely subjective enforcement based on the whim of federal authorities,” Horne said in a statement as the suit was filed.

For nearly four decades, Arizona and its municipalities have needed Justice Department approval for changes to voting procedures, driver’s licenses and school district boundaries. Important this year, the federal government must also approve the state’s redistricting efforts.

“Arizona has been subjected to enforcement actions for problems that were either corrected nearly 40 years ago and have not been repeated, or penalized for alleged violations that have no basis in the Constitution,” said Horne, who has been leading the state’s fight to uphold its tough anti-illegal immigration laws alongside Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. “That needs to stop.”

But Attorney General Eric Holder said he plans to fight the suit because the Voting Rights Act continues to play “a vital role in our society by ensuring that every American has the right to vote and to have that vote counted.”

“The Department of Justice will vigorously defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act in this case, as it has done successfully in the past,” Holder said, noting that the provisions for preclearance — which Arizona is challenging as “archaic” — “were reauthorized by Congress in 2006 with overwhelming and bipartisan support.”

And some Democrats in the state support continued federal scrutiny of the state’s voting procedures and redistricting.

“There is a reason Arizona is on the list,” state Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Democrat from Phoenix, told The Arizona Republic. “We have a history of discrimination, a history of unfairness.”

A decade ago, during the last round of redistricting, the Justice Department required the state’s independent redistricting commission to redraw its maps after determining that the new lines would disadvantage Hispanic voters.