GOP senator "cannot imagine" Congress passing Voting Rights fix

Only Congress can act to counter the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a key part of the law

Published June 26, 2013 1:16PM (EDT)

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., says that he "cannot imagine" Congress coming together to pass legislation that would counter the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act.

"In fairness, I doubt that will ever happen," Corker told the Huffington Post. "I just cannot imagine -- I'm just being honest -- Congress ever coming to terms with what they could agree on."

"In essence, what I guess would be occurring ... [would be] one group of folks would have to be saying another group of folks have some tendencies in a direction that are not good," Corker continued. "I don't know that in 2013 I see that happening."

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 4 of the VRA is unconstitutional. This part of the law creates a formula to determine which areas of the country, with a history of racial discrimination at the polls, are subject to Section 5 of the law, which requires those areas to get pre-clearance from the Department of Justice before making changes to their voting laws. In its decision, the Supreme Court said that Congress could come up with a new formula to determine which areas need to get pre-clearance, but until then Section 5 is inoperable.


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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Bob Corker Republicans Supreme Court Tennessee Voting Rights Voting Rights Act