2013 Supreme Court ruling is changing voting law in U.S

WASHINGTON – At least 29 U.S. states have enacted nearly 100 restrictive voting laws in the last 10 years. Activists believe that the states are taking advantage of a 2013 Supreme Court verdict that overturned a law requiring states to have changes to voting laws approved by the federal government.

The provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 was intended to discourage states and localities that have historically discriminated against minority voters.

Taking advantage of the ruling, the states are passing a wave of restrictive voting laws that disproportionately affect minority voters.

A new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice found that many of these laws have clear racially discriminatory effects.

Texas enacted a law in 2021 requiring voters to include their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on ballot applications. That law disproportionately affected Latino, Asian, and Black voters, who are less likely to have a driver’s license or Social Security number.

Advocates say Congress must act to undo the harm caused by the Supreme Court decision.

They are calling on Congress to pass a new coverage formula that determines which states are covered by the preclearance requirement.

Jasleen Singh of the Brennan Center said the Supreme Court cannot be relied upon to protect freedom of choice.

She said that since 2020 alone, 20 states have passed 32 laws restricting access to absentee voting.

“Without this guardrail, voters lost a bulwark against discriminatory voting policies, and states previously subject to preclearance were free to implement discriminatory restrictions on voting access without advance checks,” she said.