Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

“More than 150 companies back update to Voting Rights Act”

July 14, 2021, 1:10 pmVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

NBC News: More than 150 companies, including PepsiCo, Amazon and Target, threw their support behind updating the Voting Rights Act in a letter released Wednesday.The signatories, all U.S. employers, urged Congress to enact the John Lewis Voting Rights… Continue reading

Read My Testimony Before Senate Judiciary Subcommittee for Hearing on Voting Rights After Brnovich and Shelby County (and Link to Livestream of Hearing)

July 14, 2021, 10:51 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find my testimony at this link. All of the testimony will be posted here, and you can use the same link to watch the hearing starting around 2:45 pm ET.

“By Choice and Circumstance, Democrats Put Voting Rights on the Ballot”

July 13, 2021, 8:47 pmelection subversion risk, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

NYT: [E]ven many commentators who have expressed concerns about the integrity of future elections have criticized the push for the For the People Act as fighting the last war….“There are really two different issues going on,” said Richard L.… Continue reading

“Biden rips Trump’s ‘big lie’ in voting rights address”

July 13, 2021, 1:11 pmelection subversion risk, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

The Hill: President Biden on Tuesday decried inflammatory and false claims from former President Donald Trump and his allies about the 2020 election and broader efforts to restrict access to the ballot in a major speech on voting rights….“It’s clear,… Continue reading

“Biden to call for ‘a new coalition’ to defend voting rights”

July 13, 2021, 4:01 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Politico: In a high-profile voting rights speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden plans to “blast the denial of the right to vote as grounded in autocracy, undemocratic, un-American, and unpatriotic,” a White House official shared with POLITICO. …While Biden’s speech… Continue reading

“The Biden administration needs to take democracy issues much more seriously”

July 12, 2021, 5:29 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Perry Bacon, Jr. in WaPo: “Biden has been an excellent president on many issues. But so far, he’s fallen short on democracy defense — and that is the most important issue, the issue that his presidency is for, after his… Continue reading

“Democrats craft voting bill with eye on Supreme Court fight”

July 11, 2021, 9:02 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

AP: Democrats face dim prospects for passing voting legislation through a narrowly divided Congress, where an issue that once drew compromise has become an increasingly partisan flashpoint. But as they look to reinstate key parts of the Voting Rights… Continue reading

“Why America’s Most Popular Party Isn’t Getting More Done”

July 11, 2021, 6:55 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Jeff Greenfield in Politico: The decision [in Brnovich] was a gift-wrapped present to future Republican candidates, and a direct slap at one of the top priorities of not just Democrats, but good-government advocates across the country. The Democratic response?… Continue reading

“Top Biden ally pleads with him to scrap filibuster for election reform”

July 10, 2021, 9:12 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Politico: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told POLITICO Biden “should endorse” the idea of creating a carveout to the legislative filibuster in the Senate for legislation that applies to the Constitution. In effect, the reform would make it… Continue reading

“The Democrats’ New Voting-Rights Obstacle”

July 10, 2021, 6:56 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Ron Brownstein in the Atlantic: [T]here is a gnawing anxiety among voting-rights advocates that even if Democrats find a way to roll back the Senate filibuster and pass new federal legislation safeguarding access to the ballot, the Republican-appointed majority… Continue reading

“The Revenge of John Roberts”

July 9, 2021, 8:16 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Rolling Stone: “Combined, the AFPF and Brnovich decisions continue the Roberts court’s decade-plus track record of undermining the hard-fought voting laws enacted during the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-corruption reforms passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.… Continue reading

“Brnovich v. DNC, The Supreme Court, and Voting Rights”

July 9, 2021, 8:13 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

A We the People podcast from NCC, featuring Rick H, Ilya Shapiro, and Jeffrey Rosen.

Nationwide preclearance for congressional elections

July 8, 2021, 1:25 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

For my inaugural post as part of ELB’s new format (and I’m honored to be on board–thanks, Rick), here’s a new Washington Post column. Given Brnovich, it proposes nationwide preclearance but limited to congressional elections as a way to… Continue reading

Judge Tatel and Shelby County

July 8, 2021, 11:57 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Today’s excellent WaPo story on Judge David Tatel has this background on his opinion for the D.C. Circuit in Shelby County v. Holder: In 2012, a significant case landed with Tatel and his colleagues over a central provision of the… Continue reading