Dinner Table Daily

The original Voting Rights Act (1965) said that certain states — mostly in the South with a history of discrimination — had to ask the federal government for permission before changing any of their voting rules. Like a student asking a teacher before leaving class.
2013 — The Supreme Court said: “The list of states that need permission is outdated, so we’re throwing it out.” That meant states could now change voting rules without asking anyone first.
2021 — The Supreme Court went further: They made it much harder for people to sue when they felt a new voting rule was unfair or discriminatory. So now not only could states change rules freely, but it became harder to fight those changes in court too.
The end result:
∙ States can make voting harder (stricter ID laws, fewer polling places, shorter voting hours, etc.)
∙ It’s tough to prove in court that those changes were meant to discriminate
∙ Congress tried to fix it but couldn’t get enough votes to pass a new law
The bottom line: The law still exists on paper, but two of its biggest enforcement tools — the permission requirement and the ability to easily sue — were taken away by the Supreme Court. So it’s much weaker than it used to be.