I’ve appeared on Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s radio show before (and am happy to do so again).  He has this piece on efforts to overturn Section 5.  While most of the piece is old news, there are a few points to note.  First, the effort to overturn Section 5 is hardly a GOP effort.  In many ways, Republicans very much oppose the effort because they believe (mistakenly) that control of Congress is dependant on Section 5’s preservation.  The Republicans in Congress who believe that are falling, but nevertheless, it is inaccurate to say this is a GOP effort.  Conservative effort, constitutionalist effort?  Yes, but nominally GOP.

Secondly, Hutchinson says, “The GOP has already pecked at eroding the Act with the rash of photo identifications laws that the GOP governors and GOP controlled state legislatures have enacted. They have one aim, and that’s to discourage and damp down the number of minority and poor voters that overwhelmingly vote Democratic.”

This is a myth.  That isn’t the purpose of Voter ID.

But Hutchinson’s biggest error is to underestimate the scope of the effort to strike down Section 5.  While it isn’t necessarily a “GOP effort,” it is an extensive effort that goes well beyond Shelby County, AL.  States are challenging, and ready to challenge Section 5 as outdated.  So are more local jurisdictions.