After controversial court rulings, a Voting Rights Act lawsuit takes an unusual turn

In a closely watched legal fight over how the federal Voting Rights Act can be enforced, civil rights groups have made an unusual move.

They relented.

Last Friday, attorneys led by the American Civil Liberties Union let a filing deadline pass at the U.S. Supreme Court, choosing not to ask the justices to review a controversial lower court ruling that threatens to help end one of the main ways for enforcing the landmark law’s protections against racial discrimination in the election process.