I’ll be expecting several comments today on Shelby County from academics who write in the field.  Spencer Overton kicks it off:

The preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act required that all or part of 15 states submit their election changes to federal officials for approval.  Today, five members of the Court ruled that the Section 4 coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional and can no longer be used to require that areas preclear their election rules with federal officials.  The Court invalidated the coverage formula because the Justices believed the formula was based on outdated election data from the 1960s and 1970s.

Today’s Supreme Court decision is a setback for democracy.

Unfortunately, today’s decision gives politicians even more power to unfairly manipulate election rules and target Americans based on how they look or talk.  There is overwhelming evidence that unfair voting rules remain a very real threat—too many political operatives currently manipulate rules to diminish the voices of growing minority communities.

His thoughts continue here.

UPDATE: More from Spencer at HuffPo: “How to Update the Voting Rights Act”

FURTHER UDPATE: Spencer’s been busy: NY Times, NPR (here and here), HuffPo video