Voting Rights Act Analyses, Reports, and Explainers

More about the Brennan Center’s efforts to strengthen the Voting Rights Act can be found here. 

Brennan Center Research Showing Evidence of Discrimination in Voting and Representation

• Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022 (3/2/2024)
• Accurate Data from Georgia Shows Racial Turnout Gap (8/7/2023)
• States Have Added Nearly 100 Restrictive Laws Since SCOTUS Gutted the Voting Rights Act 10 Years Ago (6/23/2023) 
• 10 Years After SCOTUS Gutted Voting Rights Act, Alabama Turnout Gap Is Worse (6/22/2023)
• Georgia’s Racial Turnout Gap Grew in 2022 (12/16/2022)
• Records Show Massive Disenfranchisement and Racial Disparities in 2022 Texas Primary (10/20/2022)
• New State Laws Hit Voters of Color Hardest (8/16/2022)
• Despite High Voter Turnout, Racial Gap Persisted in Georgia Primary (8/15/2022)
• Nonwhite Voters at Higher Risk of Being Dropped from Arizona’s Mail Ballot List (8/11/2022)
• Patterns in the Introduction and Passage of Restrictive Voting Bills are Best Explained by Race (8/3/2022)
• Impacts of Restrictive Voting Legislation Since the 2020 Election (3/10/2023)
• North Carolina’s Racially Discriminatory Maps Show Why the Voting Rights Act Must Be Restored (1/18/2022)
• The Impact of Voter Suppression on Communities of Color (1/10/2022)
• Racial Turnout Gap Grew in Jurisdictions Previously Covered by the Voting Rights Act (8/20/2021)
• Voter Suppression in 2020 (8/20/2021)
• The Use of Section 2 to Secure Fair Representation (8/12/2021)
• Large Racial Turnout Gap Persisted in 2020 Election (8/6/2021)
• The New Voter Suppression (1/16/2020)
• Voter Purge Rates Remain High, Analysis Finds (8/1/2019)
• Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote (7/20/2018)

Brennan Center Testimony on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 

• Testimony of Wendy Weiser at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Protecting a Precious, Almost Sacred Right: The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (10/6/2021)
• Testimony of Wendy Weiser at House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Hearing on Oversight of the Voting Rights Act: Potential Legislative Reforms (8/16/2021)
• Oral Testimony of Wendy Weiser: How the John Lewis Voting Right Advancement Act Targets Discrimination (8/16/2021)
• Testimony of Sean Morales-Doyle at House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Hearing on the Implications of Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Potential Legislative Responses (7/16/2021)
• Oral Testimony of Sean Morales-Doyle: Reversing the Supreme Court’s Latest Blow to Voting Rights (7/16/2021)
• Testimony of Michael Waldman at Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections Hearing on Voting in America: A National Perspective on the Right to Vote, Methods of Election, Jurisdictional Boundaries, and Redistricting (6/24/2021)
• Oral testimony of Michael Waldman: Honor John Lewis and Protect the Right to Vote (6/24/2021) 
• Testimony of Kevin Morris at Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections Hearing on Voting in America: The Potential for Polling Place Quality and Restrictions on Opportunities to Vote to Interfere with Free and Fair Access to the Ballot (6/11/2021)
• Testimony of Wendy Weiser at Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Hearing on Oversight of the Voting Rights Act: A Continuing Record of Discrimination (5/27/2021)
• Testimony of Michael Waldman at Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections Hearing on Voting Rights and Election Administration in America (10/17/2019)
• Testimony of Myrna Pérez at House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Evidence of Current and Ongoing Voting Discrimination (9/10/2019)

Brennan Center Resources Explaining the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

• Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (9/19/2023)
• The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (9/19/2023)
• The Voting Rights Act Explained (7/17/2023)
• Debunking False Claims About the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (1/13/2022) 
• How to Restore and Strengthen the Voting Rights Act (1/28/2021)
• How to Fix American Democracy (1/13/2021) 

Brennan Center Analysis of Recent Supreme Court Decisions on the Voting Rights Act  

• Ongoing Voting Rights Act Redistricting Litigation after Merrill v. Milligan (7/5/2023)
• Shelby County v. Holder Turns 10, and Voting Rights Continue to Suffer from It (6/20/2023)
• Filling the Voting Rights Hole Left by SCOTUS in Shelby County v. Holder (6/22/2021)
• The Supreme Court Clearly Won’t Protect Voting Rights. But Congress Can. (7/7/2021)
• Election Officials Explain Why the Supreme Court Should Protect the Voting Rights Act (3/9/2021)
• The Supreme Court Case Challenging Voting Restrictions in Arizona, Explained (2/25/2021)
• 7 Years of Gutting Voting Rights (6/25/2020)
• Voting Rights in America, Six Years after Shelby v. Holder (6/25/2019)
• The Effects of Shelby County v. Holder (8/6/2018)
• Two Years After Shelby County: Congress Must Restore Voting Rights Act (6/24/2015)
• ‘Shelby County’: One Year Later (6/24/2014) 
• After 'Shelby County’ Ruling, Are Voting Rights Endangered? (9/23/2013)

Other Brennan Center Commentary on the Voting Rights Act  

• The Newest Attack on the Voting Rights Act (11/21/2023)
• Voting Rights: A Critical Two Years (6/14/2022)
• Partisan Gerrymandering Is Rampant this Cycle. Congress Needs to Act. (1/12/2022)
• Why Opponents of Voting Reforms Are Wrong (1/11/2022)
• It’s Time to Stop Gerrymandering Latinos out of Political Power (11/4/2021) 
• Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (8/17/2021)
• Voting Rights Hang in the Balance (6/8/2021)
• Voting’s Death by a Thousand Cuts (7/20/2021)
• An Anniversary and a Call to Action (8/6/2019)
• A Chance to Revive the Voting Rights Act (10/23/2019)
• Restore the Voting Rights Act (2/4/2016)
• Congress Must Act to Restore Original Promise of Voting Rights Act (8/4/2015)