BY THE NUMBERS
92%
That’s the estimated percentage of lawsuits that have been brought by private individuals and groups under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act since 1965, as cited in a recent NPR story. Section 2 allows voters to sue if they believe a state or local government has interfered with their right to vote due to their status as a member of a protected class. For decades, it has been widely understood in the legal world that individuals — not the U.S. Department of Justice — would be the majority of plaintiffs in such lawsuits.
There is a burgeoning legal movement to change that. Recently, officials in 15 states argued that private parties do not have the right to bring such suits, as they were not explicitly named in the law’s text. In their brief to the Supreme Court, these state officials argue that only the head of the Justice Department can bring such lawsuits.
To date, only the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has validated this argument. The Supreme Court has paused further action to restrict these rights as they apply in a North Dakota redistricting case, where this change would have a disproportionate impact on Native American tribal nations. However, this and other relevant cases are still proceeding, and Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Gorsuch have expressed openness to ending the individual’s right to bring these lawsuits forward in the first place.
"If there is no private right of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act is basically dead. I would consider it the final nail in the coffin."
— Franita Tolson, election law expert and dean of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law
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