The Attorney General of North Carolina has filed a brief in Voting Rights Act lawsuit that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
[Roy Cooper] attended a rally at the Legislative Building to announce his office had asked the justices to preserve a section of the landmark 1965 law that requires the federal government to sign off on state election changes.
A local Texas government is challenging that provision, but Cooper said having a federal court or the U.S. Justice Department agree ensures elections are free from racial injustice. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 29.
[…]
The case involves Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires 40 counties in North Carolina and all or portions of 15 other states with a history of racial discrimination to get federal approval before any election law changes can take effect.
Attorneys general in five of those states — New York, California, Mississippi, Arizona and Louisiana — also joined in Cooper’s friend-of-the-court brief.
Why didn’t Virginia’s Attorney General join in? Was this something that was rejected during the tenure of Bob McDonnell or did the new AG, William Mims, decide? I have emailed the AG’s office and hopefully will get a response.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Why should the VA AG have joined in?
Because it’s important to protect voting rights.
I don’t know. The VRA seems like a law that was needed when it was passed but is anachronistic now. It’s hard to imagine states trying the shameful shenanigans of decades ago anymore.
Perhaps where you live, Brian. But not where I live. The “shameful shenanigans” continue, albeit less openly as in the past.
I live in the Lynchburg area, and you’re right when you say that nothing shady is going on here. What’s happening in Norfolk?
Do you think that what that Texas town is trying to do really calls for the DoJ to oversee it? They’re moving a polling place from a garage to school – a total distance of three blocks.
Yeah, why should Bob have worried about this?
Bob McDonnell and crew have been far too busy using tax dollars to campiagn for Governor to worry about “legalities”! McDonnell also didn’t do anything about the price gouging of gas dealers, when every neighboring state did! McDonnell has been running for Governor on the taxpayers dime for 3 1/2 years now, he can’t be bothered with all this “legal” stuff! Wake up!
“price gouging,” huh? That’s better described as charging what the market will bear. The idea of outlawing it is foolish. In fact, it’s a service to the community.
Thank goodness Tim Kaine never ran for Governor on the taxpayer’s dime.
Vivian,
Shame on you for putting political opportunism ahead of proper research and facts. Looks like Bob resigned on Feb 20th. The first briefs on this matter weren’t filed until the 29th. Therefore, how can private citizen Robert McDonnell file a brief?
In addition, the NC AG only got involved for political reasons. He is thinking about running for Congress in 2010. For all that we know he might not even care about voting rights.
I think you need to go back and read what I wrote.
I don’t know how much clearer I could have been that I didn’t know which of the AGs made the decision.
Um, I’m thinking that Attorneys General can decide to file a brief, and have someone research and write it, y’know, BEFORE the brief is actually due, not AFTER. So the dates don’t really tell us much, do they?
Also, Mims was McDonnell’s Deputy AG, so I wouldn’t expect his decisions to radically depart from McDonnell’s decision. More likely, it was McDonnell’s decision, continued by Mims.