Akin Suggests The Voting Rights Act Of 1965 Should Be Overturned

Republican Congressman Todd Akin said Friday afternoon he thinks it’s time for a second look at federal “civil rights and voting rights” laws.

The republican U.S. senate candidate told FOX 2’s Charles Jaco states not the federal government should set voter rules.

Congressman Akin of course is trying to unseat democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. And Akin has always said the federal government’s role should be much smaller than it is.

But Akin says that federal voting rights laws may need to be looked at, changed or overturned is something new. Those laws were passed in 1964, 1965 and 1968. The voting rights act of 1965 prevented mostly southern states from using things like literacy tests to keep African-Americans from voting. The civil rights act of 1964 outlawed similar voting restrictions.