On December 22, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates upheld section five of the federal Voting Rights Act, in a 96-page opinion. The case is LaRoque v Holder, 10-0561. The case started after the voters of Kinston, North Carolina, voted to switch the city’s elections from partisan to non-partisan elections, and then the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department refused to allow that change. The Justice Department felt the change would injure black voters. The city council of Kinston refused to challenge the Justice Department’s decision.

Proponents of non-partisan elections then sued to overturn Section Five of the Voting Rights Act. Originally Judge Bates said they lacked standing, but the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, had reversed that, so the case returned to Judge Bates, who has now upheld the act. Even though the decision is very long, it doesn’t actually discuss the merits of the particular controversy in Kinston over non-partisan elections versus partisan elections, and whether the proposed change affects blacks. Instead, the decision is all about the big issue of whether Congress had the authority to extend the Act in 2006. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.