Understanding the Importance of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on a case challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which protects voters by requiring covered states and localities to get preapproval of their voting changes from the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court in D.C. to insure that the changes aren’t discriminatory.

Watch the short video below to understand how Section 5 works and why it is still an important tool to protect the right to vote.