On the other hand, I fear that passage of the Act will give us a false sense of complacency, as if all is well with the republic and our voting rights are secure. Reauthorization of the Act makes for great theater — after all, who could be against the Voting Rights Act? In the meantime, myriad problems remain largely unaddressed. One issue is particularly close to my heart, the problem of Latinos and voting. The Act helps in some respects, by affording bilingual ballots in certain qualifying jurisdictions. But this is only a small step. For example, Latinos lag far behind Whites and African-Americans in terms of voter registration, voter eligibility and voter turnout. Also, American citizens residing in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico do not have direct voting representation in Congress or the Electoral College. These are issues that the Act does not address.

The Act also does not address, among others, the gap between elected officials of color and eligible voters; felon disenfranchisement laws; the enactment of voter id laws across the nation; and what might be the elephant in the room, the problem of political gerrymandering and the dearth of competitive congressional seats across the country. 

These arguments are not intended as criticisms of one of the most important civil rights statutes in history. Far from it. My point instead is that reauthorization of the Act should not be taken as a complete victory and the end of the fight for real voting rights for all. Much hard work remains to be done.

— Luis Fuentes-Rohwer is an Associate Professor of Law at Indiana University.