Hey there, it's the MPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Susan Davis, I cover Congress.

And I'm Carrie Johnson, National Justice Correspondent.

And this is the Docket, our ongoing series where we explore the big legal questions of

the day.

And today we're looking at the Voting Rights Act, where it came from, why it was passed,

and what happens now that its primary provisions have been thrown out by the Supreme Court.

Now, first, a quick history lesson.

In 1870, after the Civil War, the United States added the 15th Amendment to the Constitution,

as part of what are known as the Reconstruction Amendments.

The 15th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to black men.

But almost a century later, Congress still found it necessary to pass the Voting Rights

Act.

Why?

Well, plain and simple, Sue, discrimination.

Southern states passed their own laws that made it more difficult for black voters to

get to the ballot.

There were literacy tests, poll taxes, and murder, waves of violence and lynchings.

For a brief period, black voters did get to the polls after the Civil War, and they were

able to elect candidates of their choice.

Many of them.

But that all ended because of state action.

...