. >> in north carolina, the n. a.a. cp is challenging that voter restriction. ing that, hope was settled half a century ago >>> joining me to begin the look at the voting rights act is michael font roy, an associate professor of political science at howard after the voting rights act was passed. did it work through the rest of the '60s, into the '70s, into the '80s. >> did it achieve what it accomplished. >> there were only 70, 7-0 african-american elected officials throughout the state with a decade of that, that number grown 20 fold, and across the country we have more than entire country. if you count it in terms of numerical change, there's no question that it is positively impacting the nation, and black voter participation in particular. if we look at the deliberations leading to its drafting, to its signing, looking at the back room jockey, arm twisting. did people imagine that this was going to have to stay in place for a long, long time to come. >> one of the really big parts of the voting rights act, is a linchpin of the whole law. it was initially con