Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been critical of the Supreme Court’s failure to respond to assaults on voter rights. | U.S. Senate Photographic Studio/Jeff McEvoy
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been critical of the Supreme Court’s failure to respond to assaults on voter rights. | U.S. Senate Photographic Studio/Jeff McEvoy
With the U.S. Supreme Court standing behind two election integrity laws in Arizona, the U.S. Department of Justice is unlikely to have any success in its efforts to overturn a similar law in Georgia, conservative observers note.
The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to back off his lawsuit alleging the new election law in Georgia violates a section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Journal argued that to move forward with litigation would prove fruitless in the wake of the court’s recent rulings in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, including Justice Samuel Alito’s five principles.
Alito wrote that courts faced with “time, place, and manner” cases under the Voting Rights Act should consider these five factors:
- “The size of the burden imposed by a challenged voting rule.”
- “The degree to which a voting rule departs from what was standard practice when [the Voting Rights Act] was amended in 1982.”
- “The size of any disparities in a rule’s impact on members of different racial or ethnic groups.”
- “The opportunities provided by a State’s entire system of voting when assessing the burden imposed by a challenged provision.”
- “The strength of the state interests served by a challenged voting rule.”
According to the editorial board, Georgia’s new election law SB 202 allows for three weeks of early voting, Sunday voting, two days of Saturday voting, and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia’s new law also replaces signature matching with voter ID, in response to 2,400 ballots in 2018 being rejected because of signature issues. In addition, third parties will not be able to give gifts — such as food or drink — to voters in line, which guards against electioneering from activists. Finally, ballot drop boxes will become a permanent fixture in Georgia elections.
President Joe Biden recently stated that this law “makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.”
According to the board, the Justice Department may have to hope that a lower court rules against the Georgia law, giving it some leverage to make a legal argument against the statute.
“Any specific voting provision, such as the number of drop boxes, must also be considered in the overall context of a state’s voting rules,” the board wrote. “Georgia’s rules are generally lenient and don’t especially burden the ability of minorities to vote.”
As the midterm elections approach, the high court’s rulings and Justice Department’s efforts to thwart what the left perceives as laws aimed at restricting voting will be among the issues.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been critical of the court’s failure to respond to assaults on voter rights in the wake of the 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which requires the Justice Department or federal courts to give their approval to election-law changes in states that have histories of discriminatory practices.
“It is simply unconscionable that the court’s conservative majority chose to double down on their gutting of the Voting Rights Act, failing to properly respond to a wave of restrictive and discriminatory laws in the wake of Shelby,” Schumer told the Wall Street Journal.
However, public opinion is divided on voting issues, with a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finding that 79% of respondents support requirements for photo identification to vote. The poll was conducted June 22-29.
In a separate poll, the Election Transparency Initiative found that three in four voters support voter ID laws, with 92% of Republicans, 77% of independents and 63% of Democrats also voicing support. The poll found that support dropped among minorities, with 64% of black voters, 76% of low-income voters and 77% of Hispanic voters all calling voter ID laws a burden.
The Election Transparency Initiative poll also found support for increased protections on absentee voting, including requiring identification to cast absentee ballots. The poll found 66% of voters support these protections.