1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Supreme Court Considers Standard for Voting Rights Act Claims March 18, 2021 In a potentially significant case, the Supreme Court is considering the proper standard for evaluating claims of discriminatory
2、 voting laws under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). On March 2, 2021, the Court heard oral argument in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (which has been consolidated with a related case, Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee.) In Brnovich, the Court is ev
3、aluating whether Arizona voting procedures that prohibit counting out-of-precinct provisional ballots and restrict who can collect another persons completed ballot violate Section 2, and whether the ballot collection restriction violates the 15th Amendment. More broadly, the standard adopted by the
4、Court in this case for Section 2 claims will likely determine to what degree new state voting laws enacted throughout the country are permissible under the VRA. This Legal Sidebar begins with an overview of Section 2 of the VRA, the procedural history, and the appellate court ruling in this dispute.