Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

Atlantic Poll Finds that Voters of Color Face Greater Barriers to Voting Than Whites

July 17, 2018, 8:06 amThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Atlantic: A new poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic has uncovered evidence of deep structural barriers to the ballot for black and Latino voters, specifically in the 2016 election. More than that, the survey… Continue reading

Ari Berman on Judge Kavanaugh and Voting Rights

July 13, 2018, 9:14 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

NYT op-ed: “The threat of voter disenfranchisement will get worse if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed to the court. His opinion in the South Carolina [voter ID preclearance] case and his record in civil rights matters suggests that he will… Continue reading

Why Santa Monica Is Fighting California VRA Claim

July 12, 2018, 8:44 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

LAT has this op-ed from two members of the city council on a threatened challenge to the city’s at-large election system, arguing that “carving the city into districts will not meaningfully enhance local Latino political representation.”

“Latinos Are Bringing A Growing Number Of Voting Rights Cases”

July 11, 2018, 7:42 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

NPR: “Often, we talk about the big cases that involve gerrymandering, voter identification and redistricting, but a lot of legal action around voting actually happens in small cities and towns. And a growing number of those cases are being… Continue reading

“How Shelby County v. Holder Broke America”

July 11, 2018, 6:33 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

The Atlantic: “the Court has established that not only are the legacies of Jim Crow no longer a valid justification for proactive restrictions on states, but the Court doesn’t necessarily have a role in advancing the spirit of the… Continue reading

Derek Muller’s “The Democracy Ratchet”

July 9, 2018, 4:41 pmelection law and constitutional law, voting, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Available on SSRN. From the abstract: Litigants seeking to lift burdens on the right to vote and judges adjudicating these claims have an unremarkable problem—what is the benchmark for measuring the nature of these burdens? Legal theories abound for… Continue reading

Tokaji on Abbott v. Perez: Bad Reading Invites Discriminatory Redistricting

July 9, 2018, 7:49 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

My thoughts on the Take Care Blog.

Eighth Circuit Opinion in Ferguson VRA Case

July 9, 2018, 7:20 amVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Judge Kelly’s opinion in Missouri St. Conf. NAACP v. Ferguson-Florissant Sch. Dist. affirms the district court’s decision that the school district’s at-large elections violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Eighth Circuit concludes that African American voters can… Continue reading

Texas redistricting ain’t over yet

July 5, 2018, 7:51 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Just before the holiday, Rick posted a Texas redistricting update: the trial court issued a briefing order asking what’s left of the case after SCOTUS remand. Rick thought “there’s not much left to do.” But while most of the… Continue reading

“How Justice Kennedy’s Successor Could Play A Role In Voting Rights”

July 4, 2018, 12:16 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Here’s an interview I did on NPR’s Morning Edition.

“How Justice Kennedy’s Successor Will Wreak Havoc on Voting Rights and American Democracy”

July 2, 2018, 11:34 amcampaign finance, Scalia, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement from the Supreme Court last week, was certainly the “swing justice” in key cases on major issues from abortion to gay rights. But when… Continue reading

How Appealing Roundup of Stories on Texas Redistricting Decision

June 25, 2018, 8:42 pmredistricting, residency, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find it here. You can also read my Slate piece on the decision, “Suppression of Minority Voting Rights Is About to Get Way Worse; The Supreme Court has put its thumb on the scales in favor of discriminatory … Continue reading

“Neil Gorsuch Declares War on the Voting Rights Act”

June 25, 2018, 8:01 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate: What may be most remarkable about Monday’s decision in Abbott v. Perez, however, is Justice Neil Gorsuch’s effort to position himself as a fierce opponent of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court already… Continue reading