"A cursory review of recent Republican shenanigans with voting rules should put the notion that the VRA is obsolete entirely to bed. With voting growing more racially polarized, the temptations to alter voting rules to disenfranchise particular constituencies is obvious. Indeed, the Department of Justice successfully challenged Texas' redistricting map because it diluted the voting power of Latinos. If the court strikes Section 5 down, one of the most effective and important powers the federal government has for ensuring that the right to vote is not abridged on the basis of race will be destroyed."
“Supreme Court Appears Ready to Nuke the Voting Rights Act,” Mother Jones
After what’s been going on with voting rights lately it seems that there is a prima facie case grounding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in genuine continued need and relevance, based on history distant and recent.