Supreme court’s Voting Rights Act ruling cited misleading data from DoJ

Key Points:

• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s claim that Black voter turnout exceeded white turnout in Louisiana in two of the last five presidential elections was based on a misleading methodology using total voting age population rather than the preferred citizen voting age population, which includes only eligible voters.
• Experts and data reviews show that when voter turnout is calculated using the citizen voting age population or registered voters, Black turnout only exceeded white turnout in Louisiana in the 2012 election, not in 2016 as Alito claimed.
• Nationally, Black voter turnout surpassed white turnout only in the 2008 and 2012 elections, both featuring Barack Obama on the ballot; since then, the turnout gap has widened, with Black turnout lagging behind white turnout in the last three presidential elections.
• The Voting Rights Act historically narrowed racial voting disparities, but its effectiveness was weakened by the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, which led to increased voting restrictions and a growing racial turnout gap.
• Critics argue Alito’s use of selective data and methodology to claim the Voting Rights Act is no longer necessary ignores long-term trends and ongoing disparities in voter participation, making his conclusion misleading.