Press Releases
Voting Rights & Elections
Brennan Center Submits Testimony Challenging Florida’s Restrictive Election Law
The Brennan Center for Justice submitted written testimony in advance of today’s U.S. Senate hearing examining Florida’s new election law, H.B. 1355, stating that the law’s onerous restrictions on community-based voter registration drives are unconstitutional and offering solutions for modernizing the state’s voter registration system.
– 01/27/12
Department of Justice Decision on Voter ID Law Protects South Carolina Voters
Statement: "The Justice Department has followed the law, nothing more and nothing less."
– 12/27/11
Senate Bill Would Restore Voting Rights for Millions of American Citizens
The Brennan Center for Justice and a coalition of allied civil rights advocates lauded Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) today for introducing the Democracy Restoration Act of 2011.
– 12/16/11
League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, & Florida PIRG Ask Court to Block Voter Reg. Restrictions
The Brennan Center is representing three nonpartisan groups mounting a constitutional challenge to Florida's onerous new restrictions on community-based voter registration drives.
– 12/15/11
Report: 60,000 New York Votes Lost Due to Poor Design in 2010
A new Brennan Center for Justice analysis of data from the 2010 election indicates more than 20,000 votes for governor in New York were lost because machines read them as “overvotes,” ballots with too many candidates selected. The analysis finds New York voting machines’ confusing and misleading overvote warning message is at fault, as well as the state’s outdated ballot design.
– 12/06/11
Report: Tens of Thousands of Votes Lost Due to Poor Design in 2008 and 2010
A new Brennan Center for Justice analysis of data from the 2010 general election finds more than 20,000 votes for governor in New York were lost because machines read them as “overvotes,” ballots with too many candidates selected.
– 12/06/11
Civil Rights Groups Press Department of Justice to Block New Texas Voter ID Law
In a letter sent earlier today, the groups analyzed additional data submitted to the Justice Department by Texas last month. The data show that the new law, which imposes a government-issued photo ID requirement for voting, will disproportionately burden minority voters and produce discriminatory effects.
– 11/16/11
Statement: Brennan Center Recognizes Congressional Members’ Efforts to Protect Voting Rights
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law applauds recent and ongoing efforts by Rep. Steny Hoyer and other members of Congress to help put an end to the unprecedented assault on voting rights in states across the country.
– 11/03/11
Civil Rights Groups Join Florida Voting Lawsuit, Will Defend Voting Rights Act
Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the National Council of La Raza and the League of Women Voters of Florida can intervene as defendants in a legal action over Florida’s new voting law, H.B. 1355, best known for its new, extreme restrictions on volunteer voter registration drives.
– 10/20/11
Study: New Voting Restrictions May Affect More than Five Million
New voting laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012, according to the first comprehensive study of the laws’ impact.
– 10/03/11