Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

“John Roberts and the Supreme Court might block anything Democrats do on voting rights”

August 11, 2021, 11:01 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Tierney Sneed at CNN: A key piece of congressional Democrats’ voting rights push faces not only a near-impossible odds of becoming law, but also a daunting court battle in front of a conservative judiciary if it does.The legislation, known… Continue reading

“House Democratic Report Documents Discriminatory Voting Cases”

August 6, 2021, 8:49 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Bloomberg: House Democrats took another step toward considering a key voting rights bill by releasing a report documenting dozens of discriminatory election practices.The move Friday is a prelude to the introduction of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,… Continue reading

Merrick Garland op-ed: “It is time for Congress to act again to protect the right to vote”

August 5, 2021, 5:10 pmVoting Rights ActDerek Muller

Over at the Washington Post: Our society is shaped not only by the rights it declares but also by its willingness to protect and enforce those rights. Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of voting rights.Fifty-six years… Continue reading

House readies John Lewis bill

July 30, 2021, 7:02 pmVoting Rights ActNed Foley

Politico reports on latest developments concerning revisions to the Voting Rights Act, but as with the broader HR1/S1 For the People Act it all depends on filibuster reform.

USA Today analyzes potential impact of Brnovich

July 29, 2021, 11:19 amcourt decisions, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Behind a paywall. A snippet: “At a time when more than a dozen conservative states have enacted new voting limitations and no evidence of substantial fraud has emerged from the 2020 presidential contest, election law experts say the lower… Continue reading

S1 v2: Senate revisits electoral reform

July 28, 2021, 11:55 amelection administration, political polarization, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Washington Post reports on today’s meeting among Senate Democrats to bring forward new version of S1, the For the People Act, building upon Senator Manchin’s compromise proposal. There’s also the possibility of new provisions aimed at election subversion. But there’s… Continue reading

New DOJ warning on pseudo-audits & voting laws

July 28, 2021, 10:07 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

The Department of Justice issued two documents today: one on federal laws applicable to the kind of outsourced “audit” that Maricopa County, Arizona has been conducting; the other providing “guidance” on various federal laws potentially applicable to the changes in… Continue reading

Eloquence

July 27, 2021, 7:28 pmvoting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

On voting rights from Norman Lear.

The GOP & the VRA: Frenemies?

July 26, 2021, 7:08 pmDepartment of Justice, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

A reader of the blog sent along a link to this article: How to Win a “Long Game”: The Voting Rights Act, the Republican Party, and the Politics of Counter‐Enforcement. Here’s the abstract: ADRIENNE JONES and ANDREW POLSKY examine… Continue reading

The effect of Brnovich v. DNC on the intentional discrimination lawsuit against Georgia

July 23, 2021, 8:00 amabsentee ballots, Department of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Over at RealClearPolitics, I have this piece looking at the potential effect of Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee on intentional discrimination claims, including the lawsuit recently filed by the Justice Department against portions of Georgia’s SB 202. Much of the… Continue reading

“21st Century Jim Crow” or Electoral McCarthyism?

July 21, 2021, 12:19 pmelection subversion risk, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

This op-ed in The Washington Post, by John C. Ackerman, an Illinois county clerk, argues that calling the new state laws that cut back on voting opportunities “21st century Jim Crow” is a “vilification campaign” aiming “to smear Republicans… Continue reading

Report on the Georgia hearing; what’s next?

July 19, 2021, 7:39 pmelection subversion risk, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Washington Post summarizes. Given the Republican non-participation, this doesn’t sound like an effective strategy to overcome a filibuster. USA Today reports that Senate Democrats, essentially abandoning S1, will turn instead to VRA reform “this autumn”; if true, this presumably… Continue reading

Guest Post/Poem from A Wuffle (footnotes by Bernie Grofman): Countdown to (VRA) Renewal

July 19, 2021, 4:56 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the full text from A Wuffle (footnotes by Bernie Grofman) at this link. *This essay in poetic form was written in 2006, two months prior to the congressional renewal of the VRA renewal. It is reproduced exactly… Continue reading

Nick Stephanopoulos Speaks Out on Brnovich

July 19, 2021, 7:09 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Calling it an “embarrassment” in this Q&A, Nick expresses views on the majority opinion in Brnovich that are much harsher than mine. Given the inherent ambiguity of section 2 as revised by Congress, and the genuine difficulty of applying… Continue reading