Click here for the latest on attacks on voting rights
The Voting Rights Act is at the heart of modern American democracy. However, the historic civil rights legislation has faced unprecedented attacks. The Brennan Center has worked to track these efforts to undercut voting rights and has engaged in litigation to protect every American’s voting rights.
Voting Laws Roundup:
The annual Voting Laws Roundup tracks the progress of both expansive and restrictive changes in voting laws throughout state legislatures.
- Voting Laws Roundup 2018
- Voting Laws Roundup 2017
- Voting Laws Roundup 2016
- Voting Laws Roundup 2015
- Voting Laws Roundup 2014
Current Voting Laws Resources:
- The State of Voting 2018 (Wendy Weiser and Max Feldman, June 5, 2018)
- Restrictive Voting Requirements Put in Place over the Last Several Years
Original Research:
- Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote (Jonathan Brater, Kevin Morris, Myrna Pérez, and Christopher Deluzio, July 20, 2018)
- Shelby County: One Year Later (Tomas Lopez, June 24, 2014)
- If Section 5 Falls: New Voting Implications (Myrna Perez and Vishal Agraharkar, June 12, 2013)
Litigation:
The Brennan Center has been a part of multiple litigation cases to protect the Voting Rights Act and combat restrictive voting rights laws throughout the country.
Commentary:
- A new Congress could restore the promise of the Voting Rights Act (Myrna Perez, The Hill, August 6, 2018)
- Q&A: Voting Rights Five Years After the Supreme Court’s Shelby County Decision (Myrna Perez, Brennan Center, June 25, 2018)
- 50 Years Later, Voting Rights Act Under Unprecedented Assault (Theodore M. Shaw and Vishal Agraharkar, New York Daily News, August 2, 2015)
- Texas Lawmakers Are Busy Making it Harder to Vote (Jennifer L. Clark and Gary Bledsoe, The Dallas Morning News, May 19, 2015)
- New Voting Laws Show That the Struggle Continues (Wendy Weiser, BillMoyers.com, March 6, 2015)
- From Selma to Texas: Why the Voting Rights Act is Still Vital (Vishal Agraharkar, Brennan Center, March 6, 2015)
- Voting 2014: Stories from Texas (Carson Whitelemons, Brennan Center, November 19, 2014)
- We Already Know Who Won the 2014 Election (Wendy Weiser and Lawrence Norden, The Huffington Post, November 3, 2014)
- How the Supreme Court Made a Mess of Our Voting System (Michael Waldman, Politico, October 20, 2014)
- Congress Must Keep Its Voting Rights Act Promise (Nicole Austin-Hillery, BillMoyers.com, August 6, 2014)
- If 1965 Was 'Freedom Summer,' is 2014 'Courtroom Summer’? (Victoria Bassetti, Brennan Center, August 4, 2014)
- Finally, There’s Reason for Optimism on Voting Laws (Wendy Weiser, The Atlantic, January 23, 2014)
- After 'Shelby County’ Ruling, Are Voting Rights Endangered? (Myrna Pérez and Jerry H. Goldfeder, New York Law Journal, September 23, 2013)
- All Eyes on North Carolina: A Guide to This Week’s Voting Law Hearing (Jennifer Clark, ACSblog, July 10, 2014)
- 5 Voting Victories This Week (Lucy Zhou, Brennan Center, May 2, 2014)
- Supreme Court: Helping Biggest Donors, But What About Voters? (Wendy Weiser and Lawrence Norden, Brennan Center, April 30, 2014)
- A Devastating Setback for Civil Rights (Myrna Pérez, Boston Review, June 27, 2013)
- A Broken Promise on the Voting Rights Act (Nicole Austin-Hillery, BillMoyers.com, June 26, 2013)
- Sad Day for Democracy, But Tomorrow Need Not Be (Wendy Weiser, Brennan Center, June 25, 2013)
- After Supreme Court, Congress Must Move on Voting Rights Act (Myrna Pérez, The Christian Science Monitor, June 25, 2013)
- On Voting Rights, a Decision as Lamentable as Plessy or Dred Scott (Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic, June 25, 2013)
- Life After the Voting Rights Act (Andrew Cohen, Brennan Center, June 19, 2013)
- U.S. Supreme Court Examines Voting Rights in Two Cases (Myrna Perez, New York Law Journal, May 15, 2013)
- The Voting Rights Act Becomes More Vital by the Day (Andrew Cohen, Brennan Center, April 9, 2013)
- Why Latinos Must Weigh in on Current Voting Rights Case (Myrna Pérez, Vida Vibrante, March 14, 2013)
- Why the Predictions Could be Wrong in Shelby County (Myrna Pérez, Brennan Center, March 1, 2013)
- Not Yet Section 5’s Time to Die (Andrew Cohen, Brennan Center, March 1, 2013)
- To Protect Democracy, Supreme Court Must Fully Uphold Voting Rights Act (Myrna Pérez and Lucy Zhou, The Christian Science Monitor, February 27, 2013)
- Section 5 is Still Crucial to Maintaining Americans’ Right to Vote (Wendy Weiser, U.S. News & World Report, February 27, 2013)
- Voting Rights Act is an Important Moral Statement (Myrna Pérez, Sojourners, February 25, 2013)