Respect’s fall 2024–Special Voting Rights Edition features articles on challenges to voting maps for the 2024 presidential election, as well as an article on lawsuits that fight restrictive voter laws. In addition, the issue contains an article on how states are passing Voting Rights Acts to fill the gap left by attacks on federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. A PDF of the Special Voting Rights Edition can be downloaded or individual articles can be read and printed from Respect’s blog, The Rundown.
Any questions, contact the editor of Respect, Jodi L. Miller. She can be reached via email at jmiller@njsbf.org.
Here are the headlines from the Special Voting Rights Edition:
Appeals Court Ruling Weakens Federal Voting Rights Act
For nearly 60 years, private groups and ordinary citizens were legally permitted to file voter discrimination lawsuits under the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA).
In November 2023, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit put that right in jeopardy when it upheld a lower federal district court decision that ruled “Section 2 [of the VRA] does not confer a private right of action.” A private right of action is simply the right of a private person or a private group, such as the NAACP, to take legal action against another person or entity, such as the government. READ MORE
Manipulating Boundaries with Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is almost as old as the United States itself. Even before it had a name, Patrick Henry tried to draw a congressional map in Virginia that would have denied a seat to his rival James Madison, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy organization.
The definition of gerrymandering is the manipulation of boundaries in congressional or legislative districts to favor one political party over another. It is a bipartisan issue, as both Republicans and Democrats use the tactic in an effort to keep their party in power. READ MORE
The Battle Over Voting Rights in America Continues
Across the country, concerns over voting rights and the integrity of the electoral process have led to a surge in legal actions ahead of Election Day 2024. Fueled by the false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, lawmakers in multiple states enacted laws restricting voter eligibility and changing voting procedures.
In response, civil rights organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NAACP filed lawsuits nationwide, alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination in voting nationwide on the basis of race or being a member of a language minority group. These legal challenges are rapidly reshaping the voting rights landscape, with the potential to significantly impact state, local, and national elections. READ MORE
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