Voting Rights Act

By: LandMark Publications

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze, interpret and apply provisions of the Voting Rights Act. The selection of decisions spans from 2012 to the date of publication.Election cases rest at the intersection of two competing interests. Though not a delineated right per se, the Supreme Court has readily acknowledged the general right to vote as "'implicit in our constitutional system.'" Mixon v. State of Ohio, 193 F.3d 389, 402 (6th Cir. 1999) (quoting San Antonio Indep. School Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 35 n.78, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 36 L.Ed.2d 16, (1973)). As such, this "precious" and "fundamental" right is afforded special protection by the courts, Harper v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 670, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966), as "voting is of the most fundamental significance under our constitutional structure." Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428, 433, 112 S.Ct. 2059, 119 L.Ed.2d 245 (1992) (citation omitted). Against this backdrop, however, we also acknowledge the obvious: the "right to vote in any manner... [is not] absolute," id. as the Constitution recognizes the states' clear prerogative to prescribe the "Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives." U.S. Const. Art. I, ? 4, cl. 1. "Common sense, as well as constitutional law, compels the conclusion that [there] ... must be a substantial regulation of elections if they are to be fair and honest and if some sort of order, rather than chaos, is to accompany the democratic processes." Burdick, 504 U.S. at 433, 112 S.Ct. 2059 (quoting Storer v. Brown, 415 U.S. 724, 730, 94 S.Ct. 1274, 39 L.Ed.2d 714 (1974)). Federal law thus generally defers to the states' authority to regulate the right to vote. See Crawford v. Marion Cty. Election Bd., 553 U.S. 181, 203-04, 128 S.Ct. 1610, 170 L.Ed.2d 574 (2008) (Stevens, J., op.) (recognizing that neutral, nondiscriminatory regulation will not be lightly struck down, despite partisan motivations in some lawmakers, so as to avoid frustrating the intent of the people's elected representatives). Ohio Democratic Party v. Husted, 834 F. 3d 620 (6th Cir. 2016).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1521749892
• ISBN13: 9781521749890
• Release Date: July 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 562 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 6.0"