After SCOTUS Gutted Voting Rights, An Explosion of Democratic Suppression

Millions of minority voters remain 'vulnerable to voter suppression schemes in towns, counties, and states across the country,' NAACP analysis shows

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

State and local threats to voting rights have exploded in the three years since the U.S. Supreme Court attacked a critical constitutional protection for minority voters, despite overwhelming evidence of discrimination, a new report by the NAACP reveals.

Democracy Diminished, released by the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), looks at disenfranchisement around the country since the Supreme Court effectively blocked Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act—which requires certain jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination against voters to submit proposed voting changes to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) or a federal court in Washington, D.C. for pre-clearance—in its 2013 ruling on Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder.