Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

Janai Nelson: “Victims and advocates deserve a right to fight through the Voting Rights Act”

December 5, 2023, 3:06 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

It’s a shame Janai had to even write this oped, but that’s where some courts are today: hutting voters out of the process of vindicating their rights has incalculable implications that could quickly compound. Over the last year alone,… Continue reading

“Georgia redistricting challenges protections of multiracial coalitions”

December 4, 2023, 2:11 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

AJC: As soon as Georgia’s redrawn political boundaries pass this week, the new maps will likely spark court challenges that could weaken nationwide protections against discrimination in districts where Black voters and other racial groups together make up a majority.… Continue reading

“Louisiana granted extra time to draw new congressional map that complies with Voting Rights Act”

December 4, 2023, 8:40 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

AP: Louisiana lawmakers now have until the end of January to draw and pass new congressional boundaries to replace a current map that a federal judge said violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of the state’s Black… Continue reading

5th Circuit Will Hear Galveston Redistricting Lawsuit En Banc, Offering Another Chance to Weaken the Voting Rights Act

November 28, 2023, 9:12 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Here’s the order. Here’s my earlier coverage: Breaking: Fifth Circuit Panel, While Affirming that Galveston, Texas Violated the Voting Rights Act, Calls for En Banc Rehearing So They Can Rule Against Galveston Well this is an interesting (and disturbing) … Continue reading

E.J. Dionne WaPo Column Discusses the Threats to Voting Rights, and the Need for a Constitutional Amendment Protecting the Right to Vote (Citing My Upcoming Book, “A Real Right to Vote”)

November 26, 2023, 9:37 amReal Right to Vote, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

E.J. Dionne WaPo column: In his decision in Shelby, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. claimed that even without a strong Section 4, the Voting Rights Act bans discrimination under Section 2, which “is permanent, applies nationwide, and is not… Continue reading

“Here’s how a major ruling on the Voting Rights Act could affect Louisiana”

November 26, 2023, 9:34 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Nola.com: A ruling this week that private individuals and groups can’t demand enforcement of the Voting Rights Act could have major impact in Louisiana, as the state uses that decision to try to quash a legal challenge to its Republican-drawn… Continue reading

Eleventh Circuit Reverses District Court Holding that Georgia’s At-Large Elections to State Public Service Commission Violates the Voting Rights Act; Ruling If Upheld Would Make It Very Difficult to Challenge Statewide At-Large Systems

November 24, 2023, 2:35 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Another conservative court reading section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in ever narrower ways. The ruling is here: The Georgia General Assembly determined that the State’s PSC—a constitutionally created state commission with statewide authority and statewide responsibilities—should be… Continue reading

Louisiana, Seeking to Capitalize on 8th Circuit Ruling that Private Parties Cannot Sue for Violation of the Voting Rights Act, Plans to Ask En Banc Fifth Circuit to Reconsider Ruling Requiring Creation of Additional Black Congressional District

November 22, 2023, 4:07 pm#2DaysOut, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Should have seen this one coming: And they follow the shameless power grab in prompt order. The recklessness we see in legislatures is mirrored in the courts. Very dangerous indeed. https://t.co/u1U0jwx8pE— Sherrilyn Ifill (@SIfill_) November 22, 2023

“How the Voting Rights Act, Newly Challenged, Has Long Been Under Attack”

November 22, 2023, 7:06 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

NYT: The Voting Rights Act, a landmark law that has for decades protected Black Americans from attempts to erode their political power, was dealt one of its most significant challenges this week when a federal appeals court moved to strike … Continue reading

“A Body Blow to the Voting Rights Act”

November 22, 2023, 6:52 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Josh Douglas in the Washington Monthly.

Joan Biskupic: “Voting Rights Act ruling is latest attempt by Trump-nominated judges to overturn Supreme Court precedent”

November 21, 2023, 1:58 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Joan Biskupic for CNN: A US appellate court decision Monday undercutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 rejects decades of precedent and appears likely to provoke a confrontation at the US Supreme Court, where the milestone law has been increasingly under… Continue reading

Travis Crum: “The Eighth Circuit’s Other Jurisdictional Problem”

November 21, 2023, 7:28 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Travis Crum: In Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment, a divided panel of the Eighth Circuit muddied the VRA’s jurisdictional waters. The Eighth Circuit, in an… Continue reading

Eighth Circuit’s Holding that Private Plaintiffs Do Not Have Right to Sue to Enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Would Decimate the Rights of Minority Voters; Supreme Court Review Almost Certain

November 20, 2023, 8:38 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Derek just blogged about this divided decision of the Eighth Circuit. It’s hard to overstate how important and detrimental this decision would be if allowed to stand: the vast majority of claims to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights… Continue reading

Divided 8th Circuit panel finds Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not allow private plaintiffs to sue

November 20, 2023, 8:20 amVoting Rights ActDerek Muller

Judge Stras, joined by Judge Gruender, affirming the district court. From the opening in Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment: “Did Congress give private plaintiffs the ability to sue under § 2 of the… Continue reading