Shelby County v. Holder Guts Voting Rights Act Preclearance

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder struck down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — the formula used to determine which jurisdictions required federal preclearance before changing voting laws. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the formula was based on 'decades-old data.' Within 24 hours, Texas announced it would implement a previously-blocked voter ID law and a redistricting plan. Within two months, nine of the thirteen formerly-covered states had introduced new voting restrictions. North Carolina passed the nation's most sweeping post-Shelby voting law, later struck down by a federal court as targeting African Americans 'with almost surgical precision.'