States step into voting rights void left by federal rulings

As the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back from the landmark federal law designed to safeguard the voting rights of minorities, more states are stepping in to prohibit discrimination in state and local elections.

State versions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act include some of the federal law’s approaches to fighting discrimination, including prohibitions against voter intimidation and vote dilution — that is, drawing electoral maps that distribute racial minorities across districts in a way that denies them the opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

The state laws also typically require local jurisdictions to get state approval before changing their election maps and policies. Those so-called preclearance provisions matter because its federal counterpart within the Voting Rights Act was rendered unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

Many of the state laws direct courts to consider a variety of ways to solve discriminatory voting policies, and aim to push voters and government officials to work together to head off lawsuits.


https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/states-step-voting-rights-void-left-federal-rulings