On August, 29, 2006, several voting rights organizations filed a complaint in a lawsuit in Ohio to ensure that all citizens, regardless of where they were born, are able to cast a ballot on Election Day. The Brennan Center joined the ACLU of Ohio, the Lawyers' Committee, and the ACLU Voting Rights Project in filing a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, challenging a provision of Ohio House Bill 3 which unfairly threatened to burden the voting rights of naturalized citizens.

Johnson v. Bush
Voting After Criminal Conviction

Case Summary

The Center, representing more than 600,000 Florida citizens in a class action suit, challenged Florida’s permanent disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions. Together with co-counsel, the Center argued that, because of its discriminatory intent and effect, Florida’s voting ban violated both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Case History