This past week, the Virginia state legislature passed a strict, new voter ID law. It has two more hurdles to get over before it becomes law. First, Virginia Republican Governor Bob McDonnell could veto it. That's not likely, as a new poll shows 75 percent of all Virginians in favor of voter ID.
The second line of defense is Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. First passed in 1965, it requires states and counties with a history of race-based voter suppression to get any changes to their voting rules approved by the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court; but that protection for voting rights may disappear this year, because in just a few days, the Supreme Court will hear a case seeking to overturn Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Based on previous Supreme Court opinions on this law, many legal experts fear it will be overturned, and one of the most significant guarantees of the rights of African-Americans could be wiped out.
Here to talk about what that means to your voting rights are Marcia Johnson-Blanco of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Law and Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project.
