Via Email, responding to this:

I, on the other hand, testified before the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee that part of the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act were no longer needed—the provisions for federal examiners who conducted listing (registration) of voters, and for the upkeep of the lists of federally registered voters—and those provisions were eliminated from the Act.  So it is not true that Congress did nothing to change the application of the VRA’s special provisions in the 2006 reauthorization based on examinations of extant circumstances.  The Supreme Court should respect Congress’ similar examination of the evidence and its decision that Section 5’s coverage was still needed as is.

Barry Weinberg

Former Acting Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice (retired in 2000)