Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

Eleventh Circuit Reverses District Court Holding that Georgia’s At-Large Elections to State Public Service Commission Violates the Voting Rights Act; Ruling If Upheld Would Make It Very Difficult to Challenge Statewide At-Large Systems

November 24, 2023, 2:35 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Another conservative court reading section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in ever narrower ways. The ruling is here: The Georgia General Assembly determined that the State’s PSC—a constitutionally created state commission with statewide authority and statewide responsibilities—should be… Continue reading

Louisiana, Seeking to Capitalize on 8th Circuit Ruling that Private Parties Cannot Sue for Violation of the Voting Rights Act, Plans to Ask En Banc Fifth Circuit to Reconsider Ruling Requiring Creation of Additional Black Congressional District

November 22, 2023, 4:07 pm#2DaysOut, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Should have seen this one coming: https://twitter.com/SIfill_/status/1727474839374491957?s=20

“How the Voting Rights Act, Newly Challenged, Has Long Been Under Attack”

November 22, 2023, 7:06 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

NYT: The Voting Rights Act, a landmark law that has for decades protected Black Americans from attempts to erode their political power, was dealt one of its most significant challenges this week when a federal appeals court moved to strike … Continue reading

“A Body Blow to the Voting Rights Act”

November 22, 2023, 6:52 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Josh Douglas in the Washington Monthly.

Joan Biskupic: “Voting Rights Act ruling is latest attempt by Trump-nominated judges to overturn Supreme Court precedent”

November 21, 2023, 1:58 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Joan Biskupic for CNN: A US appellate court decision Monday undercutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 rejects decades of precedent and appears likely to provoke a confrontation at the US Supreme Court, where the milestone law has been increasingly under… Continue reading

Travis Crum: “The Eighth Circuit’s Other Jurisdictional Problem”

November 21, 2023, 7:28 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Travis Crum: In Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment, a divided panel of the Eighth Circuit muddied the VRA’s jurisdictional waters. The Eighth Circuit, in an… Continue reading

Eighth Circuit’s Holding that Private Plaintiffs Do Not Have Right to Sue to Enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Would Decimate the Rights of Minority Voters; Supreme Court Review Almost Certain

November 20, 2023, 8:38 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Derek just blogged about this divided decision of the Eighth Circuit. It’s hard to overstate how important and detrimental this decision would be if allowed to stand: the vast majority of claims to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights… Continue reading

Divided 8th Circuit panel finds Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not allow private plaintiffs to sue

November 20, 2023, 8:20 amVoting Rights ActDerek Muller

Judge Stras, joined by Judge Gruender, affirming the district court. From the opening in Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment: “Did Congress give private plaintiffs the ability to sue under § 2 of the… Continue reading

“Judge finds Voting Rights Act violation in North Dakota redistricting for two tribes”

November 18, 2023, 4:50 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

AP: North Dakota’s 2021 legislative redistricting plan violates the rights of two Native American tribes because it dilutes their voting strength, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte said the redrawn legislative districts violated the Voting… Continue reading

Fifth Circuit Affirms Holding that Louisiana Likely Violated Voting Rights Act in Drawing Congressional Districts, Requires New Maps Be Drawn By January

November 11, 2023, 5:15 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

The unanimous panel decision not only found that the state likely violated Section 2 in failing to create a second black majority congressional district. It also rejected the state’s argument that private plaintiffs have no right to sue under Section… Continue reading

Breaking: Fifth Circuit Panel, While Affirming that Galveston, Texas Violated the Voting Rights Act, Calls for En Banc Rehearing So They Can Rule Against Galveston

November 10, 2023, 9:04 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Well this is an interesting (and disturbing) order. A Fifth Circuit panel has unanimously held that the district lines for the legislative body in Galveston County, Texas violates the Voting Rights Act as currently interpreted by the 5th Circuit by… Continue reading

“After Antifraud Crusade, a Trial Asks: Were Illegal Voters or Legal Ones the Target?”

October 26, 2023, 1:40 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Wines for the NYT: As Republican candidates and their supporters increasingly focus on specious claims of rampant voter fraud, a federal trial starting in Georgia on Thursday will examine whether a key campaign to unmask illegal voters in 2020… Continue reading

“BREAKING: Judge throws out Georgia’s redistricting, orders new maps”

October 26, 2023, 9:16 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

AJC: A federal judge ruled Thursday that Georgia’s district lines must be redrawn to ensure adequate representation of Black voters in Congress and the General Assembly, finding that the state’s maps illegally weakened their political power. The decision could result… Continue reading

ELB Podcast 5:2: The Roberts Court and American Democracy (Joan Biskupic)

October 18, 2023, 4:11 pmELB Podcast, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: Is the Roberts Court shifting on its protection of voting rights? How has the addition of three Trump-appointed Justices changed the nature of the Supreme Court? Should we expect a new ethics code for Supreme Court Justices?… Continue reading

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