Tom Curry makes the point nicely, a good response to HuffPo’s breathless headline of the other day “Back to 1964?”  But some things would get worse. Curry writes: ” Would parts of the country now covered by section 5 revert to the days of poll taxes, literacy tests, murders of voter registration workers, racial gerrymandering of districts, and other devices to negate the power of African-American, Latino and other minority voters?”

We won’t see poll taxes because of a constitutional amendment and a Supreme Court decision.  Another part of the VRA bars literacy tests (a provision which the Supreme Court upheld).  Fortunately, racial tensions are no longer such that murders of voter registration voters will be on the horizon.

But would we see a change in behavior?  I suspect we will.  For example, I would expect there to be fewer majority-minority districts but those districts will be packed with more minority voters (to help Republicans elect more reperesntatives overall).  Formerly covered States and localities will make voting changes, like consolidating polling places, cutting back on voter registration, implementing tough voter id rules, and other changes which (1) will automatically go into effect without DOJ or court approval and (2) some of which will be very difficult to challenge under section 2 of the VRA or any other constitutional or statutory provision.

So let’s not exaggerate the Bull Connor’s and the police dogs.  But let’s not pretend that eliminating section 5 would be no big deal either.