Kimberly Robinson for Bloomberg BNA:

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2013 decision in Shelby Cty. v. Holder, Democrats have increasingly turned to another part of the Voting Rights Act, Section 2, to challenge what they see as restrictive voting requirements.

Despite recent victories under that provision, election law litigator Paul M. Smith questioned its validity in a “post-Kennedy” world. Smith, of the Campaign Legal Center, Washington, was referring to the speculation that swing-Justice Anthony M. Kennedy might retire in coming years.

Section 2 isn’t likely to fall in the near future, William S. Consovoy, of Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC, Washington, said. But if Democrats use Section 2 to aggressively attack state laws, it could put the provision at risk.

Smith, who frequently represents Democrats and minorities in voting right challenges, and Consovoy, frequently on the other side, were speaking on a voting rights panel at the annual convention of the progressive American Constitution Society in Washington June 9.