The 1965 Voting Rights Act changed that &8212; in a whirlwind. The act permanently abolished overt discrimination tactics and temporarily placed tight voting regulations on Southern states &8212; including Mississippi and Louisiana.

Those temporary restrictions &8212; specifically Section 5 &8212; included the requirement that any changes in voting practices within nine Southern states must be approved by the federal government. Although originally set as temporary, those restrictions have been extended three times, the latest in 1982, extending them 25 years. They are currently set to expire next year. Today, more than 40 years after the initial act was instituted, Congress should allow those &8220;temporary&8221; provisions to drop or agree to extend them to all states. The potential for racism is as likely today in Michigan or Ohio &8212; both often considered swing states in national elections &8212; than in Mississippi or Louisiana.

Continuing to single out those states and requiring them to be held to a different standard is no longer required. Lots of misinformation is still floating out among the public. The debate in Congress isn&8217;t about whether or not to renew the most important part of the act, the part protecting everyone&8217;s right to vote. That right is permanent. The issue at hand is whether the federal government still needs oversight over the Southern states, but not all states. Mississippi, Louisiana and other Southern states deserved the treatment back in the 1960s, but today, the states have changed significantly and deserve to be treated equally with other states.