Tuesday marked the 48^th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act. He said at the time it was "as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield." Now, the landmark law, which protected voters from discrimination for decades, is in jeopardy. The Supreme Court on June 25 invalidated a key portion of the act which prohibited states and localities with histories of racial discrimination from altering voting laws without federal approval. Sen. Bernie Sanders said the court's decision "turned back the clock on equality in America."

In the weeks since the court ruling, multiple states have considered or passed controversial changes to voting regulations. In North Carolina, for example, a new law will require voters to provide government-issued photo identification at the polls. There are more than 300,000 voters in the state without qualifying identification cards. African-Americans and lower-income voters will be disproportionately affected, according to a study of voter data by the State Board of Elections. "We must make it easier, not harder, for poor and working people to vote and to participate in the political process," Sanders said. "Using unfounded scare tactics and isolated cases of voter fraud to weaken the public's faith in elections and to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters is reprehensible."

Listen to Sen. Sanders discuss the Voting Rights Act ruling on The Ed Show >>