The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog » voter rights

Holder: Defending Voting Rights “a moral imperative”

The Editors — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:46:16 +0000

By The Editors
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Monday continued the Obama administration’s strong defense of voting rights and assertion that so-called voter ID laws are a threat to those rights.

Holder Is Right About Carolina Voting Law

The Editors — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:36:03 +0000

LDF, the National Urban League and the NAACP respond to a Wall Street Journal editorial criticizing the Justice Department challenge of South Carolina's new voter ID law.

LDF issues joint letter urging the Attorney General to reject proposed changes to Florida’s Election Laws.

The Editors — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:41:24 +0000

The organizations argue that Florida has failed to meet its burden of showing that these changes to its Election Law will not have a retrogressive effect on minority voting rights, or that they were not adopted with a discriminatory purpose, as is required under the Section 5 preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Does Florida law unfairly punish ex-offenders?

The Editors — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:28:44 +0000

By: Starla Muhammad from The Final Call
When an incarcerated person has paid a debt to society by serving jail or prison time, is released and ready to start a new life, many will have to wait a few years to be considered a real citizen.

Leading Civil Rights Groups Urge Florida to Comply with the Voting Rights Act

The Editors — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:45:46 +0000

On March 28, 2011, the nation’s premiere civil rights organizations, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the NAACP, including its Florida State Conference of Branches, and Advancement Project, together urged Florida Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi to comply with the Voting Rights Act by submitting newly proposed changes to the state’s rules governing voter registration for persons with felony convictions to the federal government for approval.

Redrawing Democracy: Race, Redistricting, and the 2011 Redistricting Cycle

The Editors — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:55:08 +0000

By Kristen Clarke
Encouraging greater levels of community participation in the process and advocating for compliance with the Voting Rights Act can help ensure that this redistricting cycle produces maps that provide minority voters with equal access to the political process.

Civil Rights Groups Urge Florida Board Of Executive Clemency Not To Further Restrict Voting Rights

The Editors — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:35:59 +0000

Civil Rights Groups Urge Florida Board Of Executive Clemency Not To Further Restrict Voting Rights

LDF Continues Fight to Defend Voting Rights Act

The Editors — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:51:33 +0000

This week the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) presented oral argument in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, a case challenging a core provision of the Voting Rights Act known as Section 5. The provision requires jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to have voting changes reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to ensure that they are nondiscriminatory.

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Files Brief to Defend Voting Rights Act Against Constitutional Challenge

The Editors — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:07:47 +0000

Yesterday the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) filed a brief in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, a case challenging the constitutionality of two core provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The law requires jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to have voting changes reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice or D.C. District Court to ensure they are free from discrimination.

Will You be Allowed to Vote?

The Editors — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:54:18 +0000

By TaRessa Stovall
Voting is the foundation of our democracy, but barriers to this fundamental right—including burdensome, government-issued photo identification requirements, the elimination of voter names from rolls, and even blatant misinformation—disenfranchise thousands of minority voters each election cycle.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Leaves Discriminatory Disfranchisement Law in Place

The Editors — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:11:25 +0000

Last evening, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rendered a decision in Farrakhan v. Gregoire that leaves a racially discriminatory disfranchisement law in place.

LDF Commemorates the 45th Anniversary of Voting Rights Act Signing

The Editors — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:32:57 +0000

Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) commemorates the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, a bill that remains a cornerstone feature of American democracy. The Act is widely considered one of the most successful and effective civil rights statutes ever passed by Congress and continues to play an important role in combating ongoing voting discrimination throughout our nation.

Care Must Be Taken: Independent Redistricting Commissions and Voting Rights: The Role of IRCs and Voting Rights

The Editors — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:28:54 +0000

By The Editors On June 3, the NAACP Legal Defense And Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), released a report, Independent Redistricting Commissions: Reforming Redistricting Without Reversing Progress Toward Racial Equality, to provide an overview of IRCs and examine their potential impact on minority voting rights. The report also urges voters to be vigilant in monitoring any late efforts to change the rules that govern the way redistricting lines are drawn.

LDF Again Defends the Constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act on Behalf of African American Voters

The Editors — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:32:08 +0000

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) has moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Shelby County, Alabama, which seeks to invalidate the federal preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act known as Section 5. LDF seeks to intervene on behalf of African-American residents of Shelby County whose voting rights are directly impacted by this challenge.

A Powerful Voice: Not Stilled, Still Heard

The Editors — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:17:21 +0000

By Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.
In New York State Thurgood Marshall Day --appropriately -- also marks the anniversary of a great American milestone.

Appellate Court to Re-Hear LDF Voting Disfranchisement Case ‘Farrakhan v. Gregoire’

The Editors — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:08:18 +0000

On Wednesday, April 28, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered rehearing in a case challenging Washington State’s racially discriminatory law that denies the vote to people with felony convictions. A panel of eleven judges will reconsider this important civil rights case.

Remembering Selma 1965 and The March That Changed America

The Editors — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:53:57 +0000

By The Editors Friday, March 5, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) marked the 45th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma in the spirit the marchers of that day would have appreciated—by working with the citizens of Selma and other communities to ensure the voting rights won that day remain secure.

Post-Racial? Not Yet

The Editors — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:56:05 +0000

By The Editors
John Payton, speaking at one of the nation’s most historic black institutions of higher learning, takes on the challenging question – and assertion – President Obama’s election has inevitably raised: Does that mean the United States of America has become a “post-racial” society?

Detroit Diaries: Wiping the Slate Clean for Ex-Felons

The Editors — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:39:38 +0000

By Desiree Cooper With many states considering closing their prisons in order to balance their budgets, it’s time to ratchet up the national conversation about what to do with a growing number of ex-felons, especially those who are sincerely trying to re-integrate into society

Justice Department Moves to Reinvigorate Civil Rights Division

The Editors — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:56:39 +0000

By The Editors The effort of the Obama administration to restore the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division as an agent of the nation’s civil rights laws has apparently shifted into high gear.

“For the Dignity of Man and the Destiny of Democracy”: Lyndon Baines Johnson and the Voting Rights Act

The Editors — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:49:46 +0000

By Elliot Morrison “Today is a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield.” President Lyndon Baines Johnson spoke those words on a sweltering August 6th in the Capitol Rotunda forty-four years ago, prior to signing one of the most momentous legislative acts in all of American history: the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson declared that the Act’s purpose was to guarantee a right “which no American, true to our principles, can deny.”

The Fear of Too Much Justice

The Editors — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:02:11 +0000

By Stacey Patton Last week's Supreme Court ruling, which denies prisoners the constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing that could prove their innocence, says something bigger about the quality of justice in America.

Supreme Court Ruling Retains Core Provision of the Voting Rights Act

The Editors — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:43:40 +0000

By The Editors
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by seven other Justices, the Court declared that "the historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable."

The Voting Rights Act: Is ‘Pre-clearance’ Still Needed?

The Editors — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:28:04 +0000

By The Editors The continued need for the Department of Justice or federal courts to approve new voting rules and procedures of certain states and jurisdictions before they are implemented - under the so-called pre-clearance clause of the Voting Rights Act - continues to spark sharp debate.

A Turning Point for Voting Rights Law

The Editors — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:30:09 +0000

By John Payton There is no dispute as to the effectiveness of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act on our democracy. Nevertheless, some argue today that we should move "beyond" the need for Section 5 because of the election of President Obama. They could not be more wrong. Section 5 has been and remains a vital checkpoint against those who would deliberately or inadvertently deny access to the ballot for duly registered voters.