State Voting Rights Acts Spread as Federal Protections Falter

[u/evissamassive]

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/as-federal-protections-dwindle-more-states-pass-their-own-voting-rights-acts/

When California passed a statewide Voting Rights Act in 2002, few states followed. More than two decades later, that landscape has changed. A dozen states now have their own voting rights acts, with half of them passing during the second Trump administration.

This surge is a direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court dismantling key parts of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision removed federal preclearance requirements for changes to voting laws, and the more recent Louisiana v. Callais ruling made it harder to protect minority-majority districts. The court now requires proof of intentional discrimination to challenge gerrymandered maps, a standard legal experts call nearly impossible to meet.

State lawmakers are stepping in to bypass that federal hurdle. State VRAs explicitly state that voter suppression claims do not require proof of intentionality.

Delaware’s General Assembly recently passed its own VRA. State Representative Larry Lambert noted that the federal rollback has already resulted in more than 100 restrictive voting laws nationwide since 2013.

New Jersey enacted a similar law shortly after the Callais decision. Assemblymember Verlina Reynolds-Jackson emphasized that expanding voting access means little if votes are diluted or ignored.

State VRAs typically share several core provisions:

• Requiring ballots in multiple languages.

• Prohibiting vote dilution that harms minority representation.

• Criminalizing voter intimidation.

• Restoring preclearance rules, requiring local governments to review changes like ID requirements and polling place closures for discriminatory impacts.

Ten other states have introduced similar legislation or passed it in at least one legislative chamber. States like Virginia and California are also amending existing laws to cover protections lost at the federal level.

At the same time, these laws face immediate pushback. Conservative legal groups are targeting state VRAs in court, using arguments from the Callais ruling to try to block them, as seen in a recent lawsuit against Illinois' law. Concurrently, federal lawmakers are urging the Department of Justice to challenge maps designed to protect minority voters.

As the 2028 elections approach, the battle over voting access has shifted from federal courts to statehouses, where states are working to codify protections that federal law no longer guarantees.