Early Thursday morning Attorney General Eric Holder called on Congress to restore and strengthen protections against voting rights discrimination. This effort comes weeks after the Supreme Court shot down a vital section of the Voting Rights Act.
“This is a significant step,” Ari Melber said on msnbc. “This is not an automatic step. This is not something that is constantly done.”
Holder’s plan begins with efforts to “bail in” Texas–a move that would subject the state to federal oversight of its voting laws. Texas, along with numerous other states, has rushed to implement new voter restriction laws in the aftermath of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act.
“What the A.G. is saying, very clearly today and for the first time today, is that the history of discrimination, including recent history in Texas, is such that he feels under the law…there is a valid case here to go at Texas more,” Ari Melber said.