Files latest amicus brief, releases new voting rights Issue Brief and online interactive map

Washington, DC – Today, Constitutional Accountability Center is announcing the release of two new resources on the myriad voting rights cases now pending across the country, one day after filing its “friend of the court” brief in a Virginia redistricting case – Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections, due for argument at the U.S. Supreme Court later this year. The first resource is an Issue Brief, Protecting The Ballot For All, a handy guide that compiles and discusses the major voting rights cases now making their way through America’s courts. Next is a quick-reference online resource and companion to the Issue Brief, “Voting Rights In The Courts,” an interactive national map that puts key information about major voting rights cases at your fingertips.

“The election this November could be the most consequential of our lifetime, up and down the ballot,” said CAC President Elizabeth Wydra, “and it is important that everyone have access to information about the unceasing efforts of conservative activists and politicians to restrict the right to vote. The brief we filed today in Bethune-Hill continues CAC’s proud history of working in the courts to protect the voting rights of all Americans. On the eve of a new Term of the Supreme Court, still awaiting a ninth Justice, and a historic Election Day just weeks away, we are also excited to provide additional resources on the major voting rights battles now raging in courts across America.”

David Gans, CAC Civil Rights Director and author of today’s Issue Brief, added, “In an incredibly important year for the law and politics, a thus-far shorthanded Supreme Court will be asked to make critical judgments about the nexus between race and legislative redistricting. Our brief in Bethune-Hill reminds the Justices that the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, added in the wake of the Civil War, was specifically ratified to protect the right to vote from discrimination on the basis of race. After the Court’s tragic ruling two years ago in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, states and localities that were previously prevented from so easily breaking this constitutional promise were unleashed to pass one racially discriminatory voting law after another. The two additional resources that we’re releasing today will help Americans keep track of the legal challenges to those laws as they make their way through the courts.”

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Resources:

CAC “friend of the court” brief in Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Bethune-Hill_v_Virginia_State_Board_of_Elections_Amicus_Final.pdf

Protecting The Ballot For All, CAC Issue Brief, David Gans, September 14, 2016: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Protecting-the-Ballot-for-All.pdf

“Voting Rights In The Courts,” CAC online resource: http://theusconstitution.org/voting-rights-courts 

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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