WASHINGTON - February 27 - The 2012 election makes clear that the work of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is not finished. States like Florida, Texas and South Carolina saw voter suppression in the guise of reducing early voting, curtailing voter registration drives, and mandating forms of identification that millions of law-abiding Americans lack.

The Voting Rights Act has been heralded as the most effective civil rights law in history. It's a law the continues to protect the rights of American voters, and must be upheld to ensure we reach the promise of free fair and accessible elections for all

Common Cause is among 28 organizations that filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court detailing why Section 5 must be to protect American voters from unjust efforts to make it harder for them to vote. The Supreme Court today is hearing arguments in the case Shelby County v. Holder, which challenges a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Congress voted in 2006 to reauthorize and extend Section 5, the cornerstone of the legislation, for an additional 25 years.