Harvard Law & Policy Review

voting rights act

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Equal Sovereignty: From Dred Scott to Driver’s Licenses

By: Charles McGonigal* On Friday, Alabama closed thirty-one Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices. These closings wouldn’t normally be national news, but Alabama has selectively closed offices in counties with high populations of people of color, leaving no facilities in those counties to issue driver’s licenses. As photo IDs are now required to vote in that state, these actions threaten the ability of individuals in these counties to exercise their right to vote. Alabama’s latest …

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The Pioneer in the Pacific Northwest: How Oregon Makes it Easy to Vote

By Michael Pierce* Both the 15th Amendment and 1965 Voting Rights Act are crucial tools for protecting citizens' right to vote, but it's important to remember that they set a floor: progressive states shouldn't celebrate their not making it more difficult to vote. Instead, they should be asking themselves how they can make it easier. The answer to that question lies in the Pacific Northwest. By the time the 2016 elections are underway, the Oregon government will have mailed voters their …

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Fifty Years After the Voting Rights Act, Two Years After Shelby County

By Ana Choi In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, HLPR has published a new article in which Ryan P. Haygood exposes the damage caused by Shelby County in the past two years. Fifty years ago today, the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”) was signed into law. The VRA was one of the crowning achievements of the civil rights movement, and for the next several decades, it played a crucial role in the fight against discrimination and the advancement of voting …

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Veasey v. Perry & The Voting Rights Amendment Act

By Tharuni Jayaraman Thursday night was a busy night in the voting rights world. Just before 9:00 PM EST, District Court Judge Ramos, in Veasey v. Perry, enjoined Texas’ photo identification law, SB 14. She held that the law (1) “creates an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote,” (2) has an impermissible discriminatory effect against Hispanics and African-Americans, and (3) was imposed with a discriminatory purpose.” Furthermore, as emphasized by Justin Levitt of Election Law Blog, Judge …

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