Civil Rights Groups Urge Supreme Court to Protect Voting Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kiren Marshall, [email protected], 202.780.9835

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund, along with 52 national, state, and local organizations, filed a “friend of the court” brief today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which plays a vital role in ensuring that minority voters have equal access to the ballot.

“The last decade has witnessed many jurisdictions placing new hurdles in front of the ballot box: hampering voter registration, limiting early and absentee voting, closing poll locations, purging voters from the rolls, and imposing strict voter-identification requirements,” the groups wrote in the brief. “And it is reasonable to expect that such restrictions are likely to increase in quantity and severity in the future, amidst a litany of unsubstantiated but oft-repeated claims of voter fraud.”

“These restrictions on voting disproportionately affect minority voters, and substantially so. Minority voters, after all, disproportionately lack the resources to satisfy increasingly demanding voting requirements, due to the vestiges of current and past discrimination. That disproportionate burden is well-documented at every stage of voting—from registering to vote, staying registered to vote, getting to the polls, and casting a ballot,” the groups state.

The Leadership Conference is grateful to the law firm of WilmerHale and its talented team of attorneys — led by Debo P. Adegbile and including Arpit K. Garg, Marissa Medine, and Nelson Castaño — for drafting this brief.

The cases before the Court are Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee. The amicus brief is available here, and the participating organizations are:

ACCESS
Anti-Defamation League
Advancement Project National Office
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Black Alliance for Just Immigration
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Clean Elections Texas
Common Cause
Communications Workers of America
Demos
End Citizens United / Let America Vote Action Fund
Fair Count Inc
Generation Vote
Government Accountability Project
Hispanic Federation
Justice for Migrant Women
Lambda Legal
League of Women Voters United States
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Men of Reform Judaism
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Education Association
National Equality Action Team (NEAT)
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New American Leaders Action Fund
New American Voices
Oxfam America
People For the American Way Foundation
PIVOT-The Progressive Vietnamese American Organization
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Progressive Turnout Project
Sikh Coalition
Southern Poverty Law Center
The DKT Liberty Project
The Workers Circle
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Concerned Scientists
Women Lawyers On Guard Inc.
Women of Reform Judaism
Youth Progressive Action Catalyst

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund’s campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. For more information on The Education Fund, visit civilrights.org/edfund/.