No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.

Section V. (not shown) requires that certain states, counties and townships with a history of racial discrimination get approval (or “pre-clearance”) from the Department of Justice before making changes to their voting laws. This section survived a Supreme Court challenge in 2006. In 2013, the Supreme Court effectively nullified this section, reasoning that the racial injustices of the past no longer constitute a problem in today’s society.