(What a hypocrite! Usually Perry's railing against the VRA when it suits his political purposes... - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
Governor Rick Perry currently is not on the ballot for the Virginia GOP primary because he failed to get enough valid signatures to qualify.
Not being happy with that result, Governor Perry filed suit in federal district court in Richmond asking an unelected federal judge (a Barack Obama appointee no less) to find that the law violated the First Amendment.
Well, yesterday, Perry amended his complaint to allege that the Virginia law (better sit down first) also violates section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Yes, that's right, the very provision the State of Texas is strongly suggesting to the Supreme Court in the redistricting litigation may be unconstitutional.
More from election law expert, Rick Hasen:
Many have already noted that Rick Perry's lawsuit to get on the ballot in Virginia asks a federal court judge to overrule state law, in great tension with Perry's oft-asserted states' rights position.
But it gets better. Perry, whose state has been fighting over preclearance of its redistricting plan all the way to the Supreme Court, and who has strongly hinted in its most recent filing that the Voting Rights Act preclearance requirement is unconstitutional, has amended his ballot access complaint to allege that Virginia's rules are illegal because they were not precleared under the VRA.
How rich.
More at Electionlawblog.org:
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