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.'