Professor Elmendorf Publishes Voting Rights Act Essay on Slate

Professor Christopher S. Elmendorf coauthored an essay on "How to Save the Voting Rights Act" for Slate. The piece, written with University of Connecticut Law Professor Douglas M. Spencer, considers ways that Congress might restore protections for minority voters in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Section 5 of the Act, which required states and localities with a history of voter discrimination to attain approval from the federal government before changing election laws.

Congress could restore protections by adopting a formula based upon racially polarized voting, evidence of racial stereotyping, or a combination of the two, the professors write. "If a new formula doesn't pass, the failure will be one of political will," the essay concludes. "The Supreme Court left a path for putting Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act back to work. Congress can and should forge ahead."

Christopher S. Elmendorf is a Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law whose teaching and research interests include election law, administrative law, statutory interpretation, constitutional law, and property and natural resources law. 

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