Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

“How the former Confederate capital slashed Black voting power, overnight”

July 10, 2023, 8:21 pmVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

From WaPo, some voting rights history: “In the 1960s, Richmond was plagued by a suffering economy, rotting infrastructure and widespread poverty, prompting the city to begin a years-long campaign to widen its boundaries. On Jan. 1, 1970, it annexed… Continue reading

Competing Voting Bills in Congress

July 10, 2023, 12:27 pmVoting Rights ActDan Tokaji

AP reports: Congress in the coming weeks will consider shoring up voting and election laws — efforts that will reflect the vast gulf between Democrats and Republicans on protecting a foundation of American democracy. The parties will unveil separate… Continue reading

Louisiana Argues that the District Court Considering Voting Rights Challenge to Louisiana Congressional Redistricting Should Consider if Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is No Longer Constitutional

July 7, 2023, 10:04 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Yup, there it is (via Hansi Lo Wang): [The Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in] SFFA has considerably altered the landscape of cases, such as this one, that involve state action requiring racial classifications. 2023 WL 4239254,… Continue reading

Watch Archived Video of My Conversation with Patt Morrison on the Supreme Court’s Recent Election law Cases and More

July 6, 2023, 7:24 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Great to talk again as part of the America at a Crossroads series. Watch:

“Ongoing Voting Rights Act Redistricting Litigation After SCOTUS Ruling in Allen v. Milligan”

July 5, 2023, 2:45 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Brennan Center: Proving a Section 2 case is by no means an easy task, especially, as the Milligan opinion noted, at the congressional and state legislative levels. But discrimination against voters of color persists across the country, in part… Continue reading

“How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud”

July 4, 2023, 9:25 amfraudulent fraud squad, voter registration, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Miles Parks for NPR.

Little Discussion of the Voting Rights Act and Racial Gerrymandering Claims in Today’s Affirmative Action in Education Ruling

June 29, 2023, 8:11 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion in Students for Fair Admissions makes a fleeting reference to the Voting Rights Act and cites some racial gerrymandering cases (including Shaw v. Reno and Miller v. Johnson) for certain propositions about considerations of race… Continue reading

Roberts’ Majority Opinion Preserving the Status Quo in Alabama Voting Rights Act Case Must Be Seen in Light of His Killing of Affirmative Action in Education in Today’s Students for Fair Admissions Case

June 29, 2023, 7:28 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

A few weeks ago, after the Supreme Court preserved the (weak) status quo for Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Allen v. Milligan, I wrote in the NY Times: The big mystery is why Chief Justice… Continue reading

Don’t Count on the Gorsuch and Thomas Votes in Future Voting Cases; Expect Them to Side Against Voting Rights Litigants

June 27, 2023, 5:42 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

In today’s Moore decision, Justices Thomas and Gorsuch rejected the majority approach to the independent state legislature theory, believing instead that state legislatures have almost plenary power and cannot be limited even by state courts applying state constitutions. (Justice Alito… Continue reading

Plaintiffs in Milligan Litigation Want Alabama Legislature to Adopt Their Remedial Maps in Compliance with the Voting Rights Act

June 26, 2023, 2:17 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Read the letter.

“‘Am I actually awake?’: The lawyer whose redistricting litigation was instantly affected by SCOTUS’s Milligan surprise”

June 26, 2023, 9:59 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Carrie Levine for VoteBeat: The Campaign Legal Center’s Mark Gaber had just wrapped up a trial over redistricting in Washington state, representing plaintiffs who argued that newly redrawn political maps diluted the strength of Hispanic voters, on June 7. There… Continue reading

“Ten years of a crippled Voting Rights Act: how states make it harder to vote”

June 26, 2023, 7:34 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Sam Levine and Kira Lerner for The Guardian: In 2013, the US supreme court gutted the pre-clearance requirement in a landmark case called Shelby county v Holder. In a 5-4 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Voting… Continue reading

National Constitution Center Podcast: “Recapping Allen v. Milligan: The Court Upholds Section 2 of the VRA”

June 22, 2023, 3:43 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Listen: Earlier this month, the Supreme Court handed down a major voting rights decision in the Allen v. Milligan case. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and found that Alabama’s … Continue reading

ELB Podcast 4:9: Charles, Katz, Pildes: The Future of the Voting Rights Act after Milligan

June 21, 2023, 6:56 amELB Podcast, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: Why did two conservative justices on the Supreme Court join the Court’s liberals to save section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Allen v. Milligan? Will voting rights plaintiffs see more success in Section 2… Continue reading

Election Law Blog

The law of politics and the politics of law