The recent onslaught on this democratic pillar began with calculated design. In the 2013 case,
Shelby v. Holder, the Supreme Court knocked out a crucial beam—what’s known as preclearance, a provision that requires certain jurisdictions with a record of racial discrimination in voting to obtain federal approval before making any changes to their voting laws or practices. Preclearance was one of the VRA’s most powerful preventive tools against voter discrimination. It worked like a safety net—catching discriminatory voting changes before they could harm voters. Like a building with compromised structural integrity, after preclearance was eliminated, democracy in covered states immediately suffered. Texas announced, Senate Bill 14, its
restrictive voter ID law within hours. North Carolina crafted restrictions—eliminating same-day registration, reducing early voting, and creating a new photo ID requirement—within two months of the decision.
The damage spread methodically. In 2021, the Supreme Court’s ruling in
Brnovich v. Democratic National Commitee made it harder to prove discrimination under Section 2 of the act, which bans racially-discriminatory voting practices nationwide, weakening yet another support beam. But an even more pernicious assault on the foundation began in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where courts launched an unprecedented attack on private enforcement of the VRA, or the ability of individuals, groups or private parties to file lawsuits in federal court when their voting rights protected by the VRA have been violated. This further weakened the very mechanism that makes the VRA work.
