WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision, by a vote of 5-4, to strike down Section IV of the “Voting Rights Act” as unconstitutional:

“Today’s decision is a good step in returning power back to the states. As the Court noted, the criteria being used by the Justice Department to implement portions of the ‘Voting Rights Act’ are outdated. I welcome today’s ruling to treat all states equally under the law and hope it will finally clear the way for Mississippi to implement our commonsense voter identification laws in a way that is fair to all citizens.”

Section IV of the “Voting Rights Act” applies to a decades-old formula that decided which states and counties had histories of discrimination. The formula has not been updated since 1965. Since then, nine states, including Mississippi, and counties in six other states have been subject to federal preclearance, on everything from new congressional representation maps to voter-identification laws.