A GOP Congressman promises that no matter what happens in Shelby v. Holder, he will “make” GOP members of Congress pass a new Section 5 to maintain federal oversight.  One problem, it’s not 2006 anymore in the party.

Congressman Sensenbrenner makes this statement in the article:

He added: “If you look at what happened after Section 5 was amended in 1982, the number of African-American and Republican representatives in Congress and in state legislatures has gone way up.”

I can’t quite find what part of Public Law 97-205 (the 1982 Amendments) addressed the substantive standards of Section 5.  Perhaps the author meant to say Section TWO and Sensenbrenner got it right.  Or perhaps Sensenbrenner is confused about which part of the Voting Rights Act was amended in 1982.  It was Section 2 and Section 4 that were chiefly amended.  Section 5, it seems, was not – at least not in any way that would increase the number of black elected officials.  That’s what the amendment to Section 2 did, not Section 5.