Protecting Voting Rights Under the New Supreme Court

A recent Supreme Court case out of Arizona could signal a reversal of any progress made for voting rights in recent decades. Democrats fear that a more conservative Supreme Court will attempt to block this progress in future cases as well.

On Thursday, June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold two laws which had previously been struck down by an Arizona Court of Appeals. One law discarded ballots cast in the wrong precinct and the other prohibited absentee ballots from being collected by anyone other than a relative or caregiver. The state court struck down these laws on the basis that it could have an unfair impact on minority populations. The case was then heard in the Supreme Court, which reversed the lower court’s decision, saying the impact on minorities did not outweigh the danger of voter fraud that these laws may allow for. Not only does this keep these laws from being enacted in Arizona, it sets precedent for future voting rights cases around the country.

This is not the first case in which the Supreme Court has chosen to restrict broader voting rights laws. In 2013, it struck down section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder. This section required states with a history of minority voter suppression to confirm changes to their laws with federal authorities. The High Court ruled against that part of the law, citing it as a violation of the U.S. Constitution because it singled out only some states. Chief Justice John Roberts, in particular, has a history of voting in favor of laws that suppress minority voting, and the elimination of section 4(b) has only allowed this suppression to continue at the state level.

It is more important than ever that all U.S. citizens are able to participate in their democracy as tensions rise between political parties. Republicans, however, are endangering these rights with new laws such as those that allow for racial gerrymandering or make it harder for minority groups to cast their ballot.

Gerrymandering is an increasingly prevalent tactic used to suppress minority votes. It is usually done by conservative legislators, who know that minority communities are less likely to re-elect them. They get around this by redrawing voting districts in a way that groups minorities together, thus giving non-minority groups, who are more likely conservative, the advantage. It can also be done by breaking up minority votes so that they will not have a majority in any district, and conservatives are more likely to win. By drawing the districts like this, conservatives are able to get many more electoral votes. Not only is this an abuse of the electoral college, it has been deemed unconstitutional. Unfortunately, many Republican legislators have found ways around it, such as in North Carolina. Two districts were unconstitutionally redrawn in 2011, but the Supreme Court did not rule on this case until 2017, giving Republicans plenty of time to use this to their advantage. Gerrymandering, however, is not the only issue threatening voting rights in America.

According to the ACLU, in the past, Republican politicians have encouraged further “obstacles to registration, cutbacks on early voting, and strict voter identification requirements”. The ACLU is one of many organizations working to fight these injustices and advocate for equal voter rights. The ACLU works to fight voter suppression in many court cases each year, such as New York Immigration Coalition v. Trump, which called into question Trump’s order to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ACLU and blocked Trump from including the question, which would have deterred immigrants from participating in the census, and, consequently, would have inaccurately represented them in voting districts. The ACLU consistently fights for these communities, advocating for voter protection in the U.S. President Joe Biden is an advocate for this cause as well, declaring his commitment most recently in a speech he made on July 13. Still, with our current Supreme Court, these efforts may prove difficult.

After the recent Supreme Court decision, it is clear that working hard to protect our voting rights may be our new reality. With the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court now has a 6-3 conservative majority. While Congress is making efforts to protect the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court will likely be skeptical of congressional power when it comes to these issues. The Blue Cavalry’s Matthew Cannelora highlighted in a recent article just how much conservatives have tried to restrict minority voting rights in the past. It is clear that this will be an uphill battle, but Democrats are making efforts to get a new bill passed that would offer more protection for voting rights.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would work to reverse recent Supreme Court decisions by formally giving the federal government, including the courts and the Justice Department, permission to block voter suppression laws. It also repeals current rules for cases related to elections and replaces them with new rules that better protect voting rights. This bill is an indication that House Democrats are focused on curtailing voter suppression, but the question remains if they will be able to gain support from the Senate. We will soon find out whether the bill will be enough to keep voter suppression at bay in the future.