Voting Rights

Following the 2016 election, the fight for voting rights remains as critical as ever. Politicians across the country continue to engage in voter suppression, efforts that include additional obstacles to registration, cutbacks on early voting, and strict voter identification requirements. Through litigation and advocacy, the ACLU is fighting back against attempts to curtail an essential right in our democracy, the right to vote.

In addition to litigation, we are advocating for policies that make it easier for everyone to vote, such as the expansion of same-day and online voter registration.

Recent voting rights events:

In June 2013, in a massive blow to civil rights and democracy, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the current coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act. The ACLU has been fighting this rollback of voting rights through both advocacy and litigation and is working to expand the right to vote for all Americans by challenging criminal disenfranchisement laws and expanding same-day and online voter registration.

In 2015, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging a South Dakota law that moved the deadline for new political parties striving for a place on the ballot.

In 2018, the U.S. District Court deemed South Dakota’s deadline far too restrictive, and agreed that it infringed on the right to vote and the freedom to associate. See the full decision here.