[EL] VA legislative plans precleared

[Abigail Thernstrom]

	Gee, Michael, I don't see the significance here.  Would be noteworthy  
if DOJ had precleared districts in which the black vote had been  
reduced to under 50 percent.  But of course the VRARA superceded  
Ashcroft, blocking that possibility.  And the new guidelines, tracking  
the 2006 statutory language, explicitly state: "Any change affecting  
voting that has the purpose of or will have the effect of diminishing  
the ability of any citizens of the United States on account of race,  
color, or membership in a language minority group to elect their  
preferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right to vote  
within the meaning of section 5."

	DOJ stuck to the letter of the revised statute and new regs.

	Sorry for the delay in answer; Just catching up on my email.

	Abby

Abigail Thernstrom
Vice-chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
www.thernstrom.com


On Jun 17, 2011, at 6:31 PM, Michael McDonald wrote:

> Both Virginia legislative plans were pre-cleared this afternoon by  
> DOJ. This
> is significant because the Democratic state Senate plan reduced the
> African-American voting-age population of 3 voting rights districts  
> (but
> kept them above 50%).
>
> ============
> Dr. Michael P. McDonald
> Associate Professor, George Mason University
> Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
>
>                              Mailing address:
> (o) 703-993-4191             George Mason University
> (f) 703-993-1399             Dept. of Public and International Affairs
> mmcdon at gmu.edu               4400 University Drive - 3F4
> http://elections.gmu.edu     Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
>
>
>
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