This is the first election without the full Voting Rights Act — and it's already a disaster
Is it any wonder that black voter turnout in many states is down sharply?
In 2013, when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote his opinion gutting the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, a key part of his argument was that it wasn't necessary anymore. "The country has changed," he said.
It turns out this argument is somewhat akin to that of vaccine denialists who scoff at the danger of polio, since it hasn't been seen in the United States for many years. Obviously, until the disease is fully eradicated from the entire planet, mass vaccination is all that prevents one unlucky plane flight from creating a roaring polio epidemic.
And what do you know, Roberts' removal of the anti-racism shackles has created a roaring outbreak of racism. In states across the country, Republicans are attempting to disenfranchise as many Democratic-leaning constituencies as possible — especially black Americans. This will be the first presidential election without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act, and the GOP has demonstrated beyond a shadow of the doubt that the act is barely less necessary now than it was in 1965.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As Scott Lemieux points out, when Roberts wrote his decision he had already been working to destroy the Voting Rights Act for a quarter-century. The way to understand this is as a sustained effort by conservatives to fool the country and themselves into thinking that state-level Republican officials wouldn't snatch the first chance they got to suppress Democratic-leaning voters.
This effort has had two prongs. First, a constant reference to imaginary in-person voter fraud. The fact that this is all but nonexistent and indeed doesn't even make sense as a strategy — as Lyndon Johnson could tell you, an election is stolen by controlling the count, not by getting thousands or millions of people to individually commit serious felonies — is ignored, because it's a pretext. Second, conservatives crossed their hearts and hoped to die that racist disenfranchisement was a part of the misty past, not something that needs protection against anymore.
Now, Roberts' legal reasoning was so ludicrous that he did not even cite part of the Constitution to justify it, and flat ignored the clear authorization for racial suffrage protections in the 15th Amendment. Indeed, the only clear precedent for his decision was Dred Scott v. Stanford (which he did not mention, for obvious reasons).
Unfortunately, that sort of thing is an inescapable part of our legal system. If you get enough partisan hacks installed in the highest court, where what they say is the very definition of what the Constitution means, then there's no stopping them.
However, semi-plausible deniability was key to the GOP's strategy. And now, the partisan and racial subtext behind the new vote suppression efforts in 14 states are so obvious that Republicans are barely even bothering to deny it. Multiple instances of smoking gun evidence have been found, in the form of Republican officials making overt efforts to deny the vote to Democratic constituencies. In Wisconsin, a clerk argued against an early voting station at a local university because "students lean more towards the Democrats." Emails uncovered by Reuters reveal Republicans in North Carolina lobbying hard to cut hours at times when Democrats vote at early voting stations.
Worst of all, communications revealed during legal proceedings revealed North Carolina Republican lawmakers carefully compiling and considering statistics about which locations had large populations of Democrats and blacks, before passing a raft of voting restrictions which are harder for blacks to clear. That prompted a federal judge to conclude they had targeted African-Americans "with almost surgical precision." (And since Antonin Scalia is dead, the Supreme Court won't rubber stamp such nonsense anymore.)
Overall, Roberts' decision means more than 860 fewer polling stations in places with a history of disenfranchisement. State governments in Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina are ignoring federal court orders to provide proper voting facilities.
These efforts are paying dividends. Black early voting is off sharply in several states compared to 2012 — undoubtedly in large part the result of vote suppression. Some of that might be chalked up to Barack Obama no longer heading the ticket, but it beggars belief to think that explains all of it. In North Carolina, where such restrictions are worst, black turnout is down 16 percent.
Right now these efforts are mainly centered around making voting more of a pain in the neck for the poorer and browner people who tend to vote Democratic (as illustrated in a darkly hilarious video game produced by The New York Times). But I have little doubt at this point they would re-institute fully systematic disenfranchisement if they got the chance. Best to exercise that franchise now, while you still can.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published