The Geography of Voter Suppression

• In Event: The Indirect Effect of Voter Suppression Strategies on Criminal Justice Consequences for Voters of Color

Abstract

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was intended to guarantee the right to vote for racial minorities across the country. In addition to outlining rules around fair and safe elections, it also provided a series of special provisions that identified particular jurisdictions which received additional oversight to guarantee that the jurisdictions would not continue to discriminate against minority voters. While some of these protections have been struck down, data suggests that minority voters in these jurisdictions continue to face challenges accessing their right to vote. This is particularly the case after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the VRA in the 2013 decision of Shelby v. Holder. We argue that without the guard rails of the VRA, voter suppression strategies adverse to minority voters have proliferated since the Shelby decision. We address this by examining longitudinal evidence of voter disenfranchisement and utilize a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to examine spatial patterns of voter disenfranchisement highlighting changing patterns pre/post the 2013 Shelby ruling.

Authors

• Brian Lawton, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Frank S. Pezzella, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Noreen Ali, CUNY Graduate Center / John Jay College of Criminal Justice