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1 1 (March 18, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govectc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: sk Congressional ______ ** Research Service 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 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 evaluating whether Arizona voting procedures that prohibit counting out-of- precinct provisional ballots and restrict who can collect another person's completed ballot violate Section 2, and whether the ballot collection restriction violates the 15th Amendment. More broadly, the standard adopted by the 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. Next, it summarizes the arguments being considered by the Supreme Court, including some highlights from oral argument, and concludes by noting possible outcomes and implications of a ruling for Congress. Section 2 of the VRA Section 2 of the VRA provides a right of action for private citizens or the federal government to challenge state discriminatory voting practices or procedures, including those alleged to diminish or weaken minority voting power. Under Section 2, challengers can prove violations under an intent test or under a results test. Coextensive with the Fifteenth Amendment, the intent test requires a challenger to prove that a voting procedure was enacted with an intent to discriminate. Specifically, the challengers must prove, under the test established in Village ofArlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., that the voting procedure was enacted to harm minority voting strength. As a consequence of the 1982 amendments to the VRA, Section 2 also provides for a results test. Specifically, Section 2 prohibits any voting qualification or practice applied or imposed by any state or political subdivision that results in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race, color, or membership in a language minority. The statute further provides that a violation is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, electoral processes are not equally open to participation by members of' a racial or Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10583 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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