In Brnovich, Supreme Court Upholds Discriminatory Arizona Voting Laws, Damages Voting Rights Act
For Immediate Release
July 1, 2021
Contact:
Julian Brookes, brookesj@brennan.law.nyu.edu, (646) 673–6224
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee that two racially discriminatory Arizona voting laws do not violate the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution, striking down a Ninth Circuit ruling. The ruling relies on a narrow reading of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that will make it more difficult to challenge discriminatory voting laws.
Sean Morales-Doyle, Acting Director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following comment:
“Today the Supreme Court made it much harder to challenge discriminatory voting laws in court. The justices stopped short of eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, but nevertheless did significant damage to this vital civil rights law and to the freedom to vote. Congress must act now to strengthen voting rights by passing the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.”
The court’s ruling is here.
Case background is here.
