Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said Monday that there are no plans for Congress to make changes to the Voting Rights Act because there are a lot of minority citizens who currently vote.
Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was asked while speaking at the National Press Club whether the committee would consider fixing the section of the 1965 law that was struck down by the Supreme Court,
The Huffington Post reports.
The section at issue required specific states and local municipalities that had historically suppressed minority voting rights to solicit the Justice Department's permission if they wanted to change their voting laws.
In the ruling, the Supreme Court said that it was up to Congress to update the law, according to a new contemporary formula, on states they deemed were still at risk for discrimination.
But Grassley said Monday that he didn't see a need to do anything.
"It depends on what you want to fix," he said. "If you want to fix more minorities voting, more minorities are already voting."
Since Section 4 of the law was tossed by the Supreme Court, the Iowa Republican said, there would have to be "some other reason" to make adjustments to the law.
"It seems to me it's got to be different than the original intent of the Voting Rights Act because, in the last 50 years. It's made great progress," he said.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling in early 2013, several of the affected states have passed laws such as requiring voters to show a government ID, which some claim make it more difficult for poor minority citizens to vote.
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