Groups want full federal appeals court to revisit ruling limiting scope of the Voting Rights Act

By ANDREW DeMILLO and AYANNA ALEXANDER
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Progressive advocacy groups in Arkansas are asking a full federal appeals court to revisit a three-judge panel’s ruling that private groups can’t sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act. The Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the Arkansas State Conference NAACP on Monday said they will ask the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to look at the 2-1 ruling last month that only the U.S. attorney general can enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The groups say the ruling would reverse decades of precedent and take away a tool for voters to protect their rights.