Image credit: The Brennan Center for Justice via gregpalast.com
In 2023, the eighth circuit court of appeals, with jurisdiction over the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, further chipped away at the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) by determining only the federal government, specifically a sitting US attorney general, not any outside entities, could sue to enforce potential VRA violations.
Section two of the VRA "prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups identified in Section 4(f)(2) of the Act."
In other words, if an individual perceives he or she is being denied the opportunity to vote as delineated under the Fifteen Amendment because of "race, color, or membership in a language minority group," he or she used to be able to take the case to court.
The Trump-appointed circuit court judges who issued the opinion, David Stras and George W. Bush-appointee Raymond Gruender, however, ruled that no longer is the case.
Why?
Like so many ills plaguing our system, it's racism.
The Arkansas State Conference NAACP and Arkansas Public Policy Panel sued the Arkansas Board of Apportionment over discriminatory redistricting maps they allege weakened Black voters' ability to cast ballots.
This ruling essentially renders those groups and other voting advocacy groups impotent unless the US attorney general decides to take up the cause.
Former AG Merrick Garland did not do it during the Biden administration, and there is no way in hell current Attorney General Pam Bondi serving the current regime is going to either.
What can we do?
Contact your Democratic or republican senators at 202-224-3121, and let them know the SAVE Act is no longer a secret, and you are opposed to it.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
