The Danger of Voter Fraud Vigilantes
In 2008, Montana was the canary in the coal mine. About a month before the election, a local citizen named Jacob Eaton formally challenged Kevin Furey’s voter registration, swearing that he was no...
View ArticleA Vote in South Dakota Should Matter as Much as One in Florida
This Election Day, Americans again face the very real possibility that their popular vote choice for president will lose the election by failing to capture a majority of electoral votes. In fact, we...
View ArticleElection Day Voter Tips
Election expert Barbara Arnwine discusses 3 tips for voters so they’re able to successfully cast their ballot: 1. verify your registration on your local board of elections website 2. make sure you have...
View ArticleRecount, Sandy, and Ohio (Election Day 2012)
The Brennan Center’s Michael Waldman discusses critical election day issues, including: the specter of an automatic recount, Ohio’s provisional ballots, and the impact of hurricane sandy on polling...
View ArticleTrevor Potter
Trevor Potter is the founding President and General Counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that represents the public interest in administrative, legislative and...
View ArticleRefusing to vote either red or blue
Sure enough, President Obama’s win on Tuesday has a potentially huge effect on the direction of our nation. From taxes to global warming to foreign policy, the President has much he hopes to...
View ArticleWendy R. Weiser
Wendy Weiser directs the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a non-partisan think tank and public interest law center. She founded and directed the center’s Voting...
View ArticleDefending the Voting Rights Act From Its Conservative Critics
In a condescending but shallow response to a Huffington Post piece written last week by my colleague Emily Phelps and me, Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto accuses us of appealing to...
View ArticleIs The Voting Rights Act Outdated?
The Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Court will decide if some states need to get permission from the federal government before making changes that affect...
View ArticleWhile Politicians Run, Conservative Judges Stand for Voting Rights
In a speech at the John F. Kennedy Library last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made an impassioned case for the present amd continuing need for the Voting Rights Act, in particular the Act’s...
View ArticleVoting Rights Under Fire: Why We Still Need Section 5
They were young African-Americans and supporters of equality marching peacefully from Selma, Ala. to the state’s capital to protest the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by police and the denial of voting...
View ArticleOpting into the Voting Rights Act
If the Supreme Court strikes down the Voting Rights Act, many will argue that we should abandon the civil rights model of elections and opt for a national law setting uniform election standards that...
View ArticleThe next Voting Rights Act
Richard Hasen introduces this symposium by asserting the “smart money is on the [US Supreme] court striking down” Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. But I disagree with his framing. The next Voting...
View ArticleA signal it’s time to change the court
If the Supreme Court strikes Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, what next? It’s a depressing question, with a depressing answer. That’s because no practical substitute solves the problem that Section...
View ArticlePartisanship and Election Laws
Many commentators assume that the conservative Supreme Court justices will strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Like Abigail Thernstrom, however, we are not so sure. Congress clearly has the...
View ArticleKeep the Voting Rights Act
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case this month challenging the constitutionality of a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, opponents of the law question whether it’s fair, necessary or...
View ArticleProtect the NVRA
On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court will review the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark legislation that cleared barriers to the ballot box for all American citizens. In Shelby County v. Holder, the...
View ArticleEntitlement and the Supreme Court
Justice Scalia said he thinks Congress’s decision in 2006 to renew Section 5 was motivated by a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” It was the kind of political screed you might hear from Rush...
View ArticleSCOTUS Predictions & Shelby County
If you listen to the court watchers reacting to Wednesday’s oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, you might be bracing yourself for a roll back of voting rights. They are largely predicting the...
View ArticleIs Arizona Going Beyond Federal Law On Voter Registration?
Election expert Nina Perales provides compelling evidence that Arizona’s registration requirements are onerous and unconstitutional on NPR.
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