Voting Rights Resource page

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder case (oral arguments were Feb. 27) and Arizona v. ITCA, Inc. (the so-called NVRA case, oral arguments were March 18), ACS will help serve as a resource on the cases and the issue of voting rights – one of the most fundamental rights.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) remains one of the most important and effective laws ever enacted. It outlaws discriminatory voting practices that have disenfranchised racial and ethnic minorities in the United States for decades and continues to ensure an open electoral process. As we have seen over the past few years, many states and jurisdictions still seek to enact their own measures aimed at making it harder for people – often minorities, the elderly, and the young – to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.

Section 5 of the VRA requires jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to submit any proposed voting changes to the federal government for “preclearance” before they are enacted to ensure that they are not discriminatory. An overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress voted in 2006 to reauthorize Section 5 for another 25 years following an extensive and exhaustive review of the record. Shelby County is arguing that it was unconstitutional for Congress to reauthorize Section 5. While a district court and federal court of appeals upheld Section 5, its fate is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, which in the past has consistently upheld Congress' authority over the VRA.

The Arizona case, meanwhile, concerns a state voter registration law that conflicts with the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA or the “motor voter” bill). While the NVRA allows people to register to vote using a simple, uniform postcard, Arizona’s law rejects the federal form unless it also complies with the additional – and, not surprisingly, onerous – state documentation requirements.

(Click here for deatils about the areas covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.) 

ACS RESOURCES ON VOTING RIGHTS

"Keeping Faith with the Constitution" by Goodwin Liu, Pamela S. Karlan & Christopher H. Schroeder

• Chapter 3: Equality

• Chapter 6: Democracy

ACS Issue Briefs

• The Voting Rights Act Is In Jeopardy, But It Shouldn't Be: A Close Look at Shelby County v. Holder by the Constitutional Accountability Center's David H. Gans and Elizabeth B. Wydra

• The New Wave of Election Regulation: Burden without Benefit by Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt

ACSblog Posts

• Protecting Voting Rights is not ‘Crazy’ (March 19, 2013) by Spencer Overton, a Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School and a Senior Fellow at Demos.

• The Other Voting Rights Case (March 18, 2013) by Spencer Overton, Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School and a Senior Fellow at Demos.

• Post-Racialism and Shelby County Redux: Justice Scalia and the Logic of Racial Entitlement (March 7, 2013) by Atiba R. Ellis, Associate Professor of Law, West Virginia University College of Law

• No to Voting Rights Act too, GOP Sens. Not Concerned if Landmark Law is Gutted (March 6, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• High Court’s Conservative Justices Lead Attack on Voting Rights Act’s Sec. 5(February 27, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Why Landmark Civil Rights Law Remains Viable (February 26, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Do Civil Rights Laws Become Invalid If They Work? (February 26, 2013) by Gabriel J. Chin, Professor of Law, University of California Davis School of Law. 

• Bringing Sweats to the Court (February 26, 2013) by Justin Levitt. Professor Levitt, on loan from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, is a visiting associate professor of law at Yale Law School. 

• Justices Should Support, Not Hinder Congressional Work to Protect Voting Rights (February 26, 2013) by Ryan P. Haygood, Director of LDF’s Political Participation Group, and part of LDF’s litigation team in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. 

• Should History Repeat Itself? The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Importance of History (February 26, 2013) by Gilda R. Daniels, Associate Professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and former Deputy Chief of the United States Department of Justice, Voting Section.

• Voting Rights Act Keeping Democracy Healthy (February 25, 2013) by Edward A. Hailes, Jr. is Managing Director and General Counsel for Advancement Project.

• Civil Rights Leader Says Forces Still Trampling Voting Rights (February 25, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Mission Accomplished? Post-Racialism and Shelby County (February 25, 2013) by Atiba R. Ellis, Associate Professor, West Virginia University College of Law

• Shelby County v. Holder and the State of Democratic Distrust (February 22, 2013) by Bertrall Ross, Assistant Professor of Law, U.C. Berkeley School of Law. 

• Voting Rights Act Deserves More Judicial Deference than Indiana ID (February 22, 2013) by Spencer Overton, Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School and author of the book Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression.

• Congress' Constituional Power to End Racial Discrimination in Voting (Feb. 22, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Shelby County v. Holder and the State of Democratic Distrust (Feb. 22, 2013) by Bertrall Ross, Assistant Professor of Law, U.C. Berkeley School of Law

• Voting Rights Act Deserves More Judicial Deference than Indiana ID (Feb. 22, 2013) by Spencer Overton, Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School

• Serial Racial Discrimination in Voting that Persists in VRA’s Covered Jurisdictions (Feb. 15, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Assistant AG Thomas Perez on Challenge to Voting Rights Act (Feb. 14, 2013) by Andrew Hamm

• The Deafening Silence of Conservative Stars on the Constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act (Feb. 14, 2013) by Doug Kendall

• Serial Racial Discrimination in Voting that Persists in VRA’s Covered Jurisdictions (Feb. 15, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Gains in Voting Rights Are Fragile; Congress Has a Duty to Preserve Them  (Feb. 7, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Bipartisan Congressional Group Urges High Court to Uphold Voting Rights Act (Feb. 4, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• A Resounding Call to Save the Voting Rights Act (Jan. 31, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Congressional Leaders Move Ahead on Voting Rights Measure (Jan. 23, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• Ala. AG Joins Effort to Gut Landmark Civil Rights Law (Jan. 11, 2013) by Jeremy Leaming

• One Nation, Gerrymandered (Nov. 28, 2012) by E. Sebastian Arduengo

• Leading Civil Rights Attorney and Law Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill to Head NAACP LDF (Nov. 19, 2012) by Jeremy Leaming

• Blog posts from the Constitutional Accountability Center, the Brennan Center, Media Matters and other partner organizations

COURT DOCUMENTS / CASE ANALYSIS / STATEMENTS

• Shelby County v. Holder oral argument transcript and audio recordings

• Statement by ACS President Caroline Fredrickson on Shelby County Arguments

• Arizona v. ITCA, Inc. oral argument transcript, audio recordings to come

COURT BRIEFS (SHELBY COUNTY CASE)

• U.S. Government (Department of Justice) Brief

 OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES