Some enforcement provisions of the Act -- including "a provision that forces a number of mostly Southern states and counties to get pre-approval from Washington before changing voting times, places or methods" -- are up for renewal in 2007.

Richard Hasen questions whether Supreme Court nominee John Roberts supports the goals of the Voting Rights Act. Roberts unsuccessfully opposed an amendment to the law that allowed vote dilution claims to proceed in the absence of evidence that discrimination against a class of voters was intentional.

In the Reagan administration at that time was a 27-year-old lawyer named John Roberts. As a special assistant to Atty. Gen. William French Smith, Roberts was a major force behind the administration's efforts to oppose the new Section 2, according to newly released papers. He drafted Op-Ed articles, questions and answers for senators and documents aimed at defeating the new Section 2.

In these documents, Roberts wrote that the new Section 2 would "establish a quota system" and "provide a basis for the most intrusive interference imaginable by federal courts into state and local processes." He added that it "would be difficult to conceive of a more drastic alteration of local government affairs.

Hasen wonders whether Roberts would vote to uphold the Act against a challenge that Congress has invaded the province of the states. In light of Roberts' writings, the issue should be explored at his confirmation hearing.