A federal appeals court has just ruled that only the federal government has the power with which to bring lawsuits alleging voter discrimination under the Voting Rights Act. This massive change has been met with opposition from various organizations like The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and allies who are lamenting what they call “a travesty to democracy.”
This ruling is likely to make it more difficult for individuals and organizations to contest election results based on allegations of voter discrimination.
The ruling came in an Arkansas case where Republicans were accused of discriminating against minority voters during their redistricting process following the 2020 census.
As a result, this decision means that plaintiffs like The ACLU, NAACP, and other liberal organizations will no longer have standing to bring voter discrimination cases in seven states – Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota or South Dakota. This decision conflicts with another by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld private organization’s right to bring voter rights cases last November.
Election law expert Rick Hasen noted that “the Supreme Court and lower courts have for decades allowed such cases to be brought” by private groups for decades now. With two separate decisions amongst two different appeals courts given on this matter – it seems almost inevitable that The Supreme Court will eventually need weigh in here as well.
Plaintiffs may still petition the full appeals court for a review of their case or take their chances at presenting their argument directly before The Supreme Court when they open oral arguments later this year. If The Supreme Court does choose to take up this case – then we can expect a ruling sometime between June or July 2024 which could potentially shake up next year’s election season significantly if conservative justices side with restricting these types of suits solely to government entities instead allowing private groups access as well.
It should be noted however that just earlier this year – The Supreme Court had already ruled that Alabama Republicans had unfairly redistricted their state containing only one majority-Black district despite having a 27% Black population within its borders – indicating that there may yet be hope left yet for those wishing to pursue legal action regarding voting rights violations via non-governmental means as well.
