Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

USA Today analyzes potential impact of Brnovich

July 29, 2021, 11:19 amcourt decisions, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Behind a paywall. A snippet: “At a time when more than a dozen conservative states have enacted new voting limitations and no evidence of substantial fraud has emerged from the 2020 presidential contest, election law experts say the lower… Continue reading

S1 v2: Senate revisits electoral reform

July 28, 2021, 11:55 amelection administration, political polarization, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Washington Post reports on today’s meeting among Senate Democrats to bring forward new version of S1, the For the People Act, building upon Senator Manchin’s compromise proposal. There’s also the possibility of new provisions aimed at election subversion. But there’s… Continue reading

New DOJ warning on pseudo-audits & voting laws

July 28, 2021, 10:07 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

The Department of Justice issued two documents today: one on federal laws applicable to the kind of outsourced “audit” that Maricopa County, Arizona has been conducting; the other providing “guidance” on various federal laws potentially applicable to the changes in… Continue reading

Eloquence

July 27, 2021, 7:28 pmvoting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

On voting rights from Norman Lear.

The GOP & the VRA: Frenemies?

July 26, 2021, 7:08 pmDepartment of Justice, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

A reader of the blog sent along a link to this article: How to Win a “Long Game”: The Voting Rights Act, the Republican Party, and the Politics of Counter‐Enforcement. Here’s the abstract: ADRIENNE JONES and ANDREW POLSKY examine… Continue reading

The effect of Brnovich v. DNC on the intentional discrimination lawsuit against Georgia

July 23, 2021, 8:00 amabsentee ballots, Department of Justice, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDerek Muller

Over at RealClearPolitics, I have this piece looking at the potential effect of Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee on intentional discrimination claims, including the lawsuit recently filed by the Justice Department against portions of Georgia’s SB 202. Much of the… Continue reading

“21st Century Jim Crow” or Electoral McCarthyism?

July 21, 2021, 12:19 pmelection subversion risk, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

This op-ed in The Washington Post, by John C. Ackerman, an Illinois county clerk, argues that calling the new state laws that cut back on voting opportunities “21st century Jim Crow” is a “vilification campaign” aiming “to smear Republicans… Continue reading

Report on the Georgia hearing; what’s next?

July 19, 2021, 7:39 pmelection subversion risk, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Washington Post summarizes. Given the Republican non-participation, this doesn’t sound like an effective strategy to overcome a filibuster. USA Today reports that Senate Democrats, essentially abandoning S1, will turn instead to VRA reform “this autumn”; if true, this presumably… Continue reading

Guest Post/Poem from A Wuffle (footnotes by Bernie Grofman): Countdown to (VRA) Renewal

July 19, 2021, 4:56 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the full text from A Wuffle (footnotes by Bernie Grofman) at this link. *This essay in poetic form was written in 2006, two months prior to the congressional renewal of the VRA renewal. It is reproduced exactly… Continue reading

Nick Stephanopoulos Speaks Out on Brnovich

July 19, 2021, 7:09 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

Calling it an “embarrassment” in this Q&A, Nick expresses views on the majority opinion in Brnovich that are much harsher than mine. Given the inherent ambiguity of section 2 as revised by Congress, and the genuine difficulty of applying… Continue reading

New Voting Laws Face Court Challenges Across the U.S.

July 19, 2021, 6:30 amcourt decisions, election administration, election law and constitutional law, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActNed Foley

WSJ reports on the recent explosion of election-related litigation but also the challenges lawsuits have in light of new rulings like Brnovich.

Good morning. Georgia on my mind.

July 19, 2021, 6:22 amelection administration, redistricting, voting, Voting Rights ActSenateNed Foley

Thanks, Dan, we so miss you at Ohio State, but are glad to reconnect whenever there’s an opportunity. Thanks, Rick, for this opportunity to join the ELB blogging team. As I start, the Senate Rules Committee hearing today is top… Continue reading

“Postponed Weddings, Stockpiled Insulin and Covid: The Bizarre Life of Texas Democrats in Exile”

July 18, 2021, 5:41 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Politico Magazine: [O]ver 50 state House Democrats … fled Texas on Monday to deny Republicans a quorum for a major new elections bill that has stirred backlash: axing pandemic-era practices to expand voting access adopted in a large Democratic-leaning… Continue reading

“Democrats are making headlines on voting rights, but little more to counter restrictive efforts by Republicans”

July 18, 2021, 5:36 amlegislation and legislatures, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Dan Balz: “[U]ntil Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) agree to change the filibuster rules, Democrats are stuck, and the president’s rhetoric is mostly that, a call to action without the prospect of immediate action”