Professor Elmendorf Comments for Media on Voting Rights Act Research
Research by Professor Christopher S. Elmendorf measuring levels of racial prejudice in different areas of the United States drew continued attention from media in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required some states to receive federal approval before making changes to their election laws due to their history of racial discrimination.
An article in Mother Jones magazine centered on "The Geography of Discrimination in Voting: MRP Meets the VRA," research by Professor Elmendorf and University of Connecticut Law Professor Douglas M. Spencer. "There's social science evidence that, 150 years after the Civil War, Southern states do have bigger racism problems than states outside the South," the article notes. "And many of them are the same states that the VRA requires to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws."
Professor Elmendorf also contributed comments on racial attitudes in Pennsylvania to a column in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Karen Heller. In addition, Spencer was interviewed on the study by Al Jazeera.