Research analyzing the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder reveals that striking down federal preclearance led to widespread voting access backsliding for minority voters, causing hundreds of thousands of uncast ballots. Subsequent decisions in Brnovich v. DNC and Louisiana v. Callais further weakened Section 2 litigation protections. Concurrently, dozens of state-level voting restrictions and stricter voter ID requirements took effect ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Research on post-Shelby voting impacts
- ▪In their study on Shelby County v. Holder, Michael G. Miller and his co-author concluded that removing federal preclearance led to substantial backsliding in minority ballot access.
- ▪A study by Michael G. Miller and co-authors estimated that hundreds of thousands of ballots went uncast by nonwhite Americans due to the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder.
Shelby County decision and preclearance
- ▪Before Shelby County v. Holder, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal government permission before changing election policies.
- ▪The elimination of preclearance in Shelby County v. Holder freed hundreds of counties across all or part of 15 states from federal pre-approval of election changes.
- ▪On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Shelby County v. Holder to strike down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- ▪In Shelby County v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Voting Rights Act's coverage formula was antiquated and no longer reflected covered jurisdictions' willingness to discriminate.
Supreme Court rulings on Section 2
- ▪In the April 29, 2026 decision Louisiana v. Callais, the U.S. Supreme Court heightened the standard for proving racial discrimination in electoral districting under Section 2.
- ▪In the 2021 case Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially disparate voting rules do not violate Section 2 if the effects are modest.
State voting restrictions in 2026
- ▪The Brennan Center for Justice identified nearly 40 laws in 21 states taking effect in 2026 that restrict voting registration, roll maintenance, or ballot access.
- ▪More than three dozen voting laws passed in Republican-controlled states took effect ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, including new voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements.
Early impact of Voting Rights Act
- ▪Following the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black voter registration in Mississippi increased from 6.7% to roughly 60% in 1968.
- ▪The enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 enabled more than one million Black Southerners to register and vote for the first time.
Debatable claims
- ▪Heightening the evidentiary standard for Section 2 claims severely weakens protections for minority voters
- ▪The Supreme Court's Shelby County decision improperly removed essential federal protections against voter discrimination
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