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Voting & Elections
South Carolina v. Katzenbach
Decided: 1966
In brief
Upheld the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including federal preclearance requirements.
The Court's ruling in depth
The Court upheld the VRA's aggressive federal supervision of state election practices — including the preclearance regime — as a legitimate exercise of Congress's power to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment. That framework governed voting rights for nearly half a century, until Shelby County (2013) struck down its coverage formula.