Hurry up and wait, the new campaign strategy for the next election | Editorials | Macon.com

“Under Section 5, any change with respect to voting in a covered jurisdiction — or any political subunit within it — cannot legally be enforced unless and until the jurisdiction first obtains the requisite determination by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or makes a submission to the Attorney General. This requires proof that the proposed voting change does not deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. If the jurisdiction is unable to prove the absence of such discrimination, the District Court denies the requested judgment, or in the case of administrative submissions, the Attorney General objects to the change, and it remains legally unenforceable.”

— U.S. Department of Justice

The Bibb County Board of Elections made it official Friday. It called off the election for the new consolidated government scheduled for July 16. It had no choice. The U.S. Department of Justice has questions, lots of them, about Senate Bills 25 and 30 that changed Bibb County elections from partisan to nonpartisan and moved the date of the election from November to July.

The Justice Department has not ruled on whether the changes are legal, but, by requesting more information it has effectively pushed the election down the road to a date not yet ascertained.

With the move by the Board of Elections, even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Section 5 being deliberated in the Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder case, Bibb County would be hard pressed to put on an election this summer. So it’s hurry up and wait for the 29 candidates that were set for July. The campaign was just starting to heat up. One mayoral forum had been held and campaign signs were starting to sprout like weeds.

via Hurry up and wait, the new campaign strategy for the next election | Editorials | Macon.com.