“What Matters in Selma; Critics say Ava DuVernay’s film isn’t fair to LBJ. That’s because it’s about a movement, not leaders.”
Jamelle Bouie writes for Slate.
Category Archives: Voting Rights Act
“City emerges as new battleground on voting rights”
AP reports on Pasadena Texas:
Pasadena is preparing to change the makeup of its city council in a way that city fathers hope fosters new development, but that some Hispanics allege dilutes their influence. The case could become a test… Continue reading
“First African-American Elected to Senate by Popular Vote Dies”
Roll Call:
Trailblazing former Sen. Edward W. Brooke has died, the Boston Globe reported Saturday. He was 95.
The Massachusetts Republican was the first African-American to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction and the first to be elected by popular… Continue reading
“Depiction of Lyndon B. Johnson in ‘Selma’ Raises Hackles”
NYT:
“The debate isn’t just about L.B.J., but about how American politics works,” said Professor Zelizer, who teaches history at Princeton. “Is it a matter of powerful elected leaders, or average people who put their bodies on the line?”… Continue reading
“Evidence That the Jim Crow Era Endures for Older Black Voters in the South”
North Carolina Seeks Supreme Court Review in Voting Case
Regular ELB readers will recall that there is a major voting rights lawsuit against the State of North Carolina for controversial changes in voting rules passed by the Republican-dominated state legislature last year. Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction to block… Continue reading
“NC Supreme Court upholds GOP-drawn legislative, congressional districts”
News and Observer:
Twelve months after hearing arguments in the case, the N.C. Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday upholding the Republican-led redrawing of state congressional and legislative districts in 2011.
But the NAACP and other organizations that challenged… Continue reading
“Lawsuit claims racial discrimination in Ferguson voting”
MSNBC:
School board elections in Ferguson, Missouri use a racially discriminatory system that is helping to keep blacks “all but locked out of the political process,” a new federal lawsuit alleges.
The suit, filed Thursday morning by the American… Continue reading
“Texas: Judge in Voting Rights Case Made ‘Winners Out of Clear Losers'”
BLT: “Lawyers for the state of Texas have accused a federal district judge of wrongfully awarding ‘a consolation prize’ of more than $1 million in attorney fees to groups that challenged the state’s redistricting plans.”
“What Do I Need to Vote? Bureaucratic Discretion and Discrimination by Local Election Officials”
White, Nathan, and Faller have this draft coming out in APSR. Here is the abstract:
Do street-level bureaucrats discriminate in the services they provide to constituents? We use a field experiment to measure differential information provision about voting by local… Continue reading
“If The Supreme Court Reads This Study, It Could End Partisan Gerrymandering Forever”
Ian Millhiser writes.
I was surprised to see no mention of Voting Rights Act requirements in drawing these districts.
“Studies Back Up That Few Elections Are Swung by Voter ID Laws”
Nate Cohn for NYT’s The UpShot:
Last week, I wrote an article arguing that voter ID laws don’t swing many elections.
This week, the Brennan Center for Justice says I have it “wrong” on voter ID. Yet,… Continue reading
Democracy NC Claims Up to 50,000 Voters “Silenced” by New Voting Restrictions
See this release from Democracy North Carolina.
I’m quite skeptical of the 50,000 figure, based upon how the group explains part of its calculations:
How many voters were blocked by the new law? The number easily exceeds 30,000 and likely … Continue reading
“Glendale City Council to discuss scrapping at-large election system”
More fallout from the CVRA.