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Avoiding Avoidance in Brnovich

Document Type

Blog Posting

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

Election Law Blog

Abstract

In today’s decision in Brnovich v. DNC, the Supreme Court established a new, more stringent discriminatory-effects test for vote-denial claims brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Many commentators will focus on how the Court made it far harder to bring such claims, which have proliferated after Shelby County v. Holder gutted the preclearance regime. Today is definitely a loss for voting rights plaintiffs. But I want to focus on what is absent from Brnovich: namely, any discussion of constitutional avoidance or even a constitutional holding about the Fifteenth Amendment.

Keywords

Voting Rights, Election Law, Constitutional Law, Brnovich v. DNC, Fifteenth Amendment

Publication Citation

Travis Crum, Avoiding Avoidance in Brnovich, Election Law Blog (July 1, 2021, 11:48AM), https://electionlawblog.org/?p=123078

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