Category Archives: Voting Rights Act
“A Fight Over Voter Rights in California; Liberal Santa Monica finds itself on the same side as a conservative legal activist challenging the state’s voting-rights law”
WSJ:
Santa Monica, Calif., with a “well-being index” to gauge the happiness of its residents and a fleet of city buses powered by natural gas, often lives up to its reputation as a wealthy, liberal enclave on California’s coast
But… Continue reading
“Federal Court Strikes Down Michigan Law Banning Straight-Ticket Voting”
Common Cause:
Today a federal judge struck down a 2015 bill passed by the Michigan legislature and signed by Governor Snyder to ban straight-ticket voting. Common Cause joined the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Democratic Party of Michigan, and… Continue reading
9th Circuit Rejects en Banc Consideration of Poway Case Against California Voting Rights Act, for Now
Order from the 9th Circuit:
Filed order and amended memorandum (SUSAN P. GRABER, MILAN D. SMITH, JR. and ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN). Movants-Appellants petition for panel rehearing filed in case No. 18-55506 is GRANTED in part. The memorandum disposition filed June… Continue reading
“Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Releases Advisory Memorandum on Voting Rights in Texas”
Release via email:
The Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has issued an Advisory Memorandum examining potential barriers to voting in Texas that may have a discriminatory impact on voters based on race, color, sex, disability… Continue reading
“Prophylactic Redistricting? Congress’s Section 5 Power and the New Equal Protection Right to Vote”
Michael Morley has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, William & Mary L. Rev.). Here is the abstract:
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) has been an important mechanism for increasing participation by racial minorities in the electoral system. In… Continue reading
New Series from TPM on Voting Rights Opens with Josh Marshall’s “The Battle For The Right To Vote Has Never Been Won”
You can read Josh’s opening at this link.
Senate Hearing: “Voting Rights, Access, and Barriers in Indian Country (webcast)”
Watch the hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Atlantic Poll Finds that Voters of Color Face Greater Barriers to Voting Than Whites
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
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
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”
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”
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”
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