All posts by Justin Levitt

Reactions to Shelby County: Sam Issacharoff

June 28, 2013, 10:41 amVoting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Sam offers his suggestions for a way forward after Shelby County, in the New Republic. The operative nub: A new Elections Clause approach would forgo the attempt to freeze the status quo by forcing prior federal approval. Instead Congress could… Continue reading

A new electionlineWeekly

June 27, 2013, 5:52 pmelection administrationJustin Levitt

Leading off this week’s electionline, Doug Chapin issues a call to arms: I won’t pretend to provide any kind of cogent legal analysis of the Shelby County decision, which is fascinating on so many levels; for that, you should… Continue reading

Advancement Project testimony on Florida lines

June 27, 2013, 5:01 pmelection administrationJustin Levitt

Here’s a summary of Advancement Project testimony showing the disparate impact of lines in the 2012 election, based on research by Dan Smith and Michael Herron. The testimony has been submitted to the Presidential Commission on Election Administration for its… Continue reading

NH voter ID modification passes

June 27, 2013, 5:00 pmvoter idJustin Levitt

New Hampshire’s legislature approves (and the Governor is expected to sign) a modification to last year’s voter ID law. Per this article: The voter ID law enacted in 2012 included several changes that were to effect this September, including… Continue reading

Shelby County and turnout stats

June 27, 2013, 4:55 pmvoting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Soon-to-be Indiana U. political scientist Bernard Fraga discusses comparative racial and ethnic turnout, finding that midterm elections and county-level data tell a different story than statewide numbers in presidential years. To give the overall conclusions context, it helps to… Continue reading

Fred Woocher on the unusual Prop 8 coalition

June 27, 2013, 4:46 pmSupreme CourtJustin Levitt

On the election law listserv, Fred shared his thoughts on the unusual composition of the majority in the Prop 8 case. Reprinted by Rick’s request, with Fred’s permission: With apologies if this is a little late or off-topic, but after… Continue reading

Supreme Court vacates pending Texas preclearance appeals

June 27, 2013, 4:43 pmredistricting, voter id, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

The appeals on both photo ID and redistricting were vacated in the wake of Shelby County. The photo ID law is now legally operative (though challenged in new litigation filed yesterday). The redistricting maps were superseded yesterday when Governor… Continue reading

“The 2013 Running Of The Interns”

June 27, 2013, 4:42 pmelection law "humor", Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

And still another intriguing angle on the consequences of Shelby County. Perhaps it’s just me (certainly, it’s just me), but after repeatedly seeing major news sites depict the release of each opinion this week with a different picture of an… Continue reading

“N.M. was affected by Voting Rights Act”

June 27, 2013, 4:41 pmVoting Rights ActJustin Levitt

One of the few articles I’ve seen recently discussing the section 3 “bail-in” mechanism. This piece discusses New Mexico’s experience with preclearance.

“Don’t forget the Census Bureau’s prison miscount when fixing Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act”

June 27, 2013, 4:41 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Some intriguing maps at Prisoners of the Census, comparing jurisdictions with less than 50% turnout in 2012 to jurisdictions with incarcerated populations.

“Reading Congressional Tea Leaves from the 2006 Renewal of the Voting Rights Act”

June 27, 2013, 4:40 pmlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Sarah Binder digs into the voting patterns on the 2006 VRA renewal process to forecast Congressional action going forward. And The Post’s The Fix discusses the difficult political road for Obama.

Rep. Sensenbrenner On VRA: “Threat Of Discrimination Still Exists”

June 27, 2013, 4:40 pmVoting Rights ActJustin Levitt

TPM has the quote: “. . . Section 5 of the Act was a bipartisan effort to rectify past injustices and ensure minorities’ ability to participate in elections, but the threat of discrimination still exists. I am disappointed by… Continue reading

Shelby County v. DOMA, Part II

June 27, 2013, 4:40 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

The money quote of this piece: ” Framing an issue—any issue—in terms of states’ rights obscures the fact that a bedrock purpose of any decent political system is to protect the rights of individuals, and to soften the sharp… Continue reading

“Conservative Constitutional Hypocrisy”

June 27, 2013, 4:39 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Eric Schnurer’s piece on originalism and Shelby County begins: Most reaction to this week’s Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act will center on whether the court was right that the law (or at least its Section 5)… Continue reading