Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice
([link removed])
The Briefing
In America, of all places, your right to vote shouldn’t depend on where you live. But states where it’s been historically difficult to exercise this fundamental democratic right, like Texas, are trying to make it even harder to vote based on the Big Lie of a stolen election. The need for federal intervention to protect voting rights and guard against partisan gerrymandering gets clearer by the day.
Under the Constitution, Congress has the right to set new voting rules that states must comply with, just as it did in the 1960s when it forced Southern states to abandon racist voting practices enacted after the Civil War.
After signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” More than five decades later, that instrument needs federal protection again.
Between January 1 and July 14, according to new Brennan Center research
([link removed])
, more than 400 bills that included provisions that restrict voting access have been introduced in 49 states. During that same time, 18 states have enacted 30 laws that make it harder for people to vote. The laws make mail voting and early voting more difficult. They impose harsh voter ID requirements. They make purging eligible voters from the rolls more likely. I could go on.
These laws — disingenuously marketed as “election integrity” — were passed and signed into law by nearly 20 governors despite absolutely no evidence of widespread fraud.
Worse, the great suppression campaign of 2021 isn’t over yet. Regular legislative sessions continue in eight states, and Texas is in the middle of a special session. The Lonestar State seems destined to impose harsh new voter restrictions in a state infamous for its already draconian voting rules and regulations. Though Democratic state representatives fled the state to stop the passage of voting restrictions, including two big and bad bills, Gov. Greg Abbot has promised to call special session after special session until the lawmakers return.
The story of states that have expanded voting rights is worth telling, too. As of July 14, 25 states have enacted 54 laws that make it easier to vote. Some provisions expand early and mail voting. Others make it easier to register to vote. Three states have restored voting rights to people with past convictions.
Soon, members of Congress will have two pieces of legislation before them that would significantly blunt the impact of this new era of restrictive voting laws. The For the People Act, which already passed the House, would create a national standard for voting access in federal elections. No-excuse vote by mail. Two weeks of early voting. A ban on gerrymandering. A much-needed overhaul of campaign finance laws. Automatic and same-day voter registration and more. The soon-to-be introduced John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the Voting Rights Act, once again making jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination receive clearance from the Justice Department and the courts before they can pass new voting rules.
It’s time for President Biden to meet this moment with the urgency it deserves. He needs to be this generation’s LBJ, using his bully pulpit to get this vital civil rights legislation passed before it’s too late.
Constitution
New Series: 9/11 at 20
The world has changed dramatically since 9/11, as have the challenges faced by our country. After two decades, we can see which national security strategies have and haven’t worked, but the government has been slow to learn these lessons. In a new essay series
([link removed])
, experts from inside and outside the Brennan Center offer big-picture looks at where we went wrong after the attacks and how to approach national security going forward.
After 9/11, Congress granted the executive branch new authorities in areas from surveillance to the use of military force, and lawmakers did little to keep the president in check. “Put simply, Congress too often has become more spectator than participant in our country’s national security, to the detriment of both institutions,” writes former Sen. Russ Feingold, now president of the American Constitution Society. He presents several ways Congress can reassert its constitutional authority and restore the Constitution’s checks and balances. // Read More
([link removed])
Democracy
Bad-Faith Election Audits Are Sabotaging Democracy
As the so-called “audit” of the 2020 election results in Arizona drags on, the partisan effort to unearth nonexistent evidence of voter fraud is spreading to other states. There are legitimate election validation procedures routinely used by election officials to count votes and check results, but that’s not what these partisan fiascos are. “They are designed to stoke mistrust in the 2020 election and in elections to come,” write the Brennan Center’s Gowri Ramachandran and R Street Institute’s Matthew Germer. “Our democracy can only survive so long as the voters whose candidate didn’t win can trust our elections.” // The Hill
([link removed])
How to Repair the New York City Board of Elections
This week, the New York State Senate will kick off a series of hearings across the state on voting. It’s fitting that the first meeting will be in Brooklyn, as New York City voters have long been disenfranchised by election failures. Many problems can be traced to the local Board of Elections, whose structure empowers county party leaders at the expense of efficiency, accountability, professionalism, and innovation. The legislature can fix much of what’s wrong with the board, Joanna Zdanys writes. She details seven reforms that would improve its functioning. // Read More
([link removed])
Permanently Stopping Abuse of Power in the Executive Branch
In his first six months, President Biden has made progress to restore norms of ethics and the rule of law in government, but there is still much more work to be done. “Key next steps should include deterring abuses of the pardon power and ensuring that independent executive branch watchdogs have the power to take on misconduct,” write Gareth Fowler, Martha Kinsella, and Alexa Askari. They also explain the importance of related statutory reforms, including the Protecting Our Democracy Act and the Scientific Integrity Act. // Read More
([link removed])
Justice
Monetary Sanctions as a Pound of Flesh
America’s system of criminal fines and fees has established a two-tiered system of justice: one for people with financial means and one for people without. “When they are unable to pay penal debt, people entangled with the criminal legal system — already stressed by daily financial choices they must make regarding food, health, and childcare — incur additional legal consequences,” writes University of Washington professor Alexes Harris, who testified about the issue before a House panel today. In the latest essay in the Brennan Center’s Punitive Excess series
([link removed])
, she lays out the fundamental unfairness inherent in this deliberate system of punishment and proposes ways to unwind it. // Read More
([link removed])
Coming Up
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: Election Subversion: A Growing Threat to Electoral Integrity
([link removed])
Wednesday, July 28 // 12 p.m. ET
A hearing before the House Administration Committee will focus on the unprecedented assault on election officials leading up to and since the 2020 election. A recent report
([link removed])
from the Brennan Center and the Bipartisan Policy Center found that one in three election officials report feeling unsafe because of their job. At the hearing, Brennan Center Senior Counsel Gowri Ramachandran will present specific steps that Congress can take to protect them. Watch Here
([link removed])
Want to keep up with Brennan Center events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.
([link removed])
News
Lauren-Brooke Eisen on decarceration in response to Covid-19 // The Hill
([link removed])
Michael Li on attacks on redistricting reforms passed by voters // The Hill
([link removed])
Faiza Patel on the influence of social media on public discourse // Texas Public Radio
([link removed])
Yurij Rudensky on drawing fair voting districts // Michigan Bridge
([link removed])
Have an issue you'd like us to cover? Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at
[email protected]
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750
New York, NY 10271
T 646 292 8310
F 212 463 7308
[email protected]
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences
[link removed]
Want to stop receiving these emails?
Click here to unsubscribe
[link removed]
([link removed])
([link removed])
([link removed])
([link removed])
