A new federal court opinion in an Arkansas case that would restrict who can sue under the 1965 Voting Rights Act is one of the most alarming attacks on the law in recent years. It would effectively prohibit most efforts to protect Black people’s access to the ballot box and continue the long assault on […]
Voting
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
A New Report Card Evaluates Voting Maps in Every State. How Did Your State Do?
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently settling a case that will determine whether South Carolina Republicans designed a congressional map that benefits their party at the expense of Black voters. But South Carolina isn’t the only state with eyebrow-raising district boundaries. A new report card from the Coalition Hub for Advancing Redistricting and Grassroots Engagement shows that states across […]
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The Next Big Voting Rights Case to Watch
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday hears oral arguments in a South Carolina case that could make it exceedingly difficult for Black voters to challenge racially discriminatory district maps and limit their ability to elect a representative who might fight for them. Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP is one of the most […]
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What Black Voters Should Know About the Legal Battles Over Redistricting
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Alabama’s attempts to prevent the redrawing of the state’s congressional map, meaning that the process of creating new district lines will continue. Earlier this month, federal judges struck down Alabama’s new map, saying that it ignored the high court’s directive to design a second majority-Black district or “something […]
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A New Voter ID Requirement Has North Carolina Civil Rights Organizers on Edge
The Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court in April tossed out a ruling that had been handed down when the court leaned Democratic. The move reinstated SB 824, a 2018 law that provides a rigid list of photo IDs approved for voting in the Tar Heel State. This fall’s local elections will be the first contests […]
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Supreme Court Upholds Voting Rights Act in Victory for Black Political Power
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a ruling that protects Black voting power, shocking court watchers who feared that the court’s conservative majority would use the case to further weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In its 5-4 Allen v. Milligan decision, the bench affirmed a lower court ruling that said that Alabama’s […]
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This U.S. Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Black Political Power
To read about how the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Allen v. Milligan, check out Capital B’s story here. Allen v. Milligan hasn’t captured quite as much attention as other cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. But the bench’s decision — expected in the coming weeks — could have a seismic impact on Black political […]
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Will Voter Fraud Arrests Dampen Turnout for the Midterm Elections?
Even while he was caught up in street life on the South Side of Chicago, Aaron Smith knew he had a civic duty. The college graduate was misusing his business education to hustle heroin, but come election time, he would be filling out his ballot from top to bottom. “Local governments are really what’s going […]
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The Reading List: The Voting Rights Issues Black People Should Care About
The fight for the basic right to vote has been among the most enduring struggles of Black people in America. From poll taxes to literacy tests and grandfather clauses, the methods used to bar Black voters from the ballot box goes back over a century. Even progress toward the goal for other once-disenfranchised groups has […]
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‘Democracy is a process, not a state of being’
The Senate’s failure to pass voting rights legislation this month was a blow to Democrats and Black activists who hoped to stem the tide of laws limiting ballot access across the country. Many had stressed the urgency of passing the bill ahead of November’s midterm elections, but the effort was thwarted when senators blocked a […]