Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

“Sword, Shield, and Compass: The Uses and Misuses of Racially Polarized Voting Studies in Voting Rights Enforcement”

January 9, 2013, 12:49 pmvoting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Kareem Crayton has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article addresses the multiple functions of racially polarized voting (RPV) studies, an essential element of voting rights enforcement. This type of social science analysis figures into the… Continue reading

“South Carolina part of suit challenging Voting Rights Act provisions”

January 9, 2013, 9:08 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Gannett reports: “South Carolina spent $3.5 million defending its voter identification law against government allegations of discrimination, while other states with similar laws faced no such opposition, the state’s top attorney said recently in court papers.The discrepancy proves the… Continue reading

“Alabama Backs County on Voting Rights Case”

January 9, 2013, 8:03 amDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

USA Today reports.

“Texas redistricting appeal not relisted for this Friday”

January 8, 2013, 11:10 amDepartment of Justice, redistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Waiting on Shelby County? It wouldn’t surprise me. It would be a lot of work to decide the Texas redistricting case, and the case would be moot if the Supreme Court strikes down section 5 of the VRA first… Continue reading

Toobin on Shelby County Case

January 7, 2013, 7:36 amDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Here, in the New Yorker.

“SC’s voter ID lawsuit cost $3.5 million; But court rules federal government must cover some of the costs”

January 5, 2013, 8:36 amDepartment of Justice, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The State: “It cost South Carolina $3.5 million to sue the federal government over the state’s voter ID law – but the federal government will have to pay some of that bill. Late Friday, a court ruled that because South… Continue reading

Texas Solictor General Responds to My Comment About Its Shelby County Amicus Brief

January 5, 2013, 8:26 amDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

In response to my January 3 post, Texas Remarkably Fails to Mention in Amicus Brief Against Voting Rights Act That Court Found It Engaged in Purposeful Racial Discrimination in Voting Last Year, Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell sends along… Continue reading

“America Has Changed, So Voting Rights Act Section 5 Is No Longer Constitutional”

January 4, 2013, 10:10 amDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Ilya Shapiro blogs.

Texas Remarkably Fails to Mention in Amicus Brief Against Voting Rights Act That Court Found It Engaged in Purposeful Racial Discrimination in Voting Last Year

January 3, 2013, 9:27 pmDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

A remarkable omission in the Texas amicus brief in the Shelby County voting rights case before the Supreme Court: there’s all this talk about how burdensome the law is in relation to the DOJ fight over Texas’s voter identification law.… Continue reading

Numerous Amicus Briefs, Including by Some Covered States, Filed Against Constitutionality of Voting Rights Act Section 5, in Shelby County Case

January 3, 2013, 7:51 pmDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Via the Project on Fair Representation (representing Shelby County): Amicus Briefs Alabama Alaska American Unity Legal Defense Fund Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina and South Dakota Cato Institute Former Government Officials John Nix, Anthony Cuomo and Dr. Abigail Thernstrom Judicial Education … Continue reading

“U.S. Supreme Court Poised To Determine Constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; Merced County Files Amicus Brief Defending Its Bailout From Section 5 Coverage.”

January 3, 2013, 7:28 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Press release: On January 2, 2013, two of Nielsen Merksamer’s leading voting rights experts, Marguerite Leoni and Chris Skinnell, filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court, in the pending constitutional challenge to Section 5 of… Continue reading

“Conservative Group Attempts To Block New Hampshire’s Bailout From Voting Rights Act”

January 2, 2013, 2:11 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Ryan Reilly reports for HuffPo.

“Election Study: Black Turnout May Have Surpassed That Of Whites”

December 28, 2012, 8:48 amvoting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

NPR: African-Americans voted this year at a higher rate than other minorities and may have topped the rate for whites for the first time, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. Blacks make up 12 percent… Continue reading