Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced his participation in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The brief supports the right of Americans to vote without racial discrimination and argues for the ability of private citizens to file lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when their rights are violated.
"The right to vote sits at the center of American democracy, and private citizens must have the capability to defend that right in court,” said AG Ford. “If Americans lose the right to seek legal recourse when they suffer racial discrimination in the voting process, bad actors will be empowered and everyday Americans will lose a key protection they have long enjoyed. There is no reason to ignore six decades of history in which this protection was in place, and so I urge the court to rehear this case.”
The VRA was enacted by Congress in 1965 to ensure voting rights were not denied based on race. Section 2 prohibits racially discriminatory policies by state and local governments. For nearly 60 years, individuals have been able to enforce Section 2 through lawsuits. Without this enforcement mechanism, only the U.S. Attorney General could uphold these rights within the Eighth Circuit.
In 2022, individual voters and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians challenged North Dakota’s legislative map under Section 2, claiming it diluted Native American votes. A district court agreed but was later overturned by a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that individuals could not sue under Section 2.
The amicus brief urges a rehearing by emphasizing that private enforcement has been crucial since VRA's inception with around 400 cases filed privately compared to about 40 by the U.S. Attorney General who lacks resources for nationwide monitoring.
Without private action rights, voters may rely solely on federal intervention which might not address all concerns timely due to resource constraints. The coalition stresses that eliminating private enforcement reduces compliance incentives for state officials crafting policy as evidenced by states enacting restrictive laws after a Supreme Court decision weakened another VRA provision.
AG Ford joins Minnesota's lead alongside attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Oregon Vermont and Washington.