In preparation for the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, NYU Law’s Brennan Center for Justice released a report analyzing new implications if the Court strikes down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The report (which can be read here), argues that Section 5 has been crucial to challenging restrictive voting laws proposed by states in recent years, and that striking down Section 5 would both threaten the rights of minority voters and generate additional confusion and litigation over voting regulations.
In a New York Times article that cited the Brennan Center's report, Richard Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constiutional Law, said that challenging controversial voting laws would become more difficult and expensive if the Supreme Court were to strike down Section 5. But, he said, he thought the laws would still face judical review. “I believe state election laws will continue to be robustly scrutinized and challenged,” Pildes told the Times. “The biggest question will be changes to election laws at the level of local governments.”
Posted on June 24, 2013