Voting Rights 4.5

Question 1

how have black americans campaigned for their right to vote

Answer 1

• bus boycotts
• voting rights act
• litigation through the courts
• pressurising politicians

Question 2

who and when was the voting rights act passed

Answer 2

congress, 1965

Question 3

whats the preclearance formula

Answer 3

states which have major changes in their voting laws and practices must have approval on federal level

Question 4

what have republican states done in order to try and silence ethnic minority votes

Answer 4

• restrict mail-in voting
• limit polling places and hours

Question 5

what have the democrats done in order to stop republicans from silencing ethnic minorities

Answer 5

• left the task of redrawing congressional districts to independent commissions
• reducing the possibility of gerrymandering

Question 6

what is gerrymandering

Answer 6

manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts to favour a particular political party or group.

Question 7

therefore, what is the only way of combating any form of gerrymandering when it comes to ethnic votes is…

Answer 7

a large turnout, to increase their chances of having their opinions heard

Question 8

what happened in Shelby County v Holder (2013)

Answer 8

• the Supreme Court struck down the preclearance formula as unconstitutional.

Question 9

what did Chief Justice Roberts said about the preclearance formula

Answer 9

‘Coverage today is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices’

Question 10

what happened due to Shelby County v Holder (2013)

Answer 10

texas announced:
- their voter ID law (which was blocled) would go into effect
- state’s redistricting maps would no longer need federal approval

Question 11

what have been the major recent developments within percentage in racial equality

Answer 11

1980
- 50% = black voters voted
- 61% = white voters voted
2012
- 66.6% = black voters voted
- 64% = white voters voted
- 48% = hispanic voters voted

Question 12

what recent events have disproportionately affected black voters

Answer 12

• 9 states asked for photo ID in predominately black states for the run up of the 2016 election ( Alabama, Texas, Tennessee)
• ‘felony disenfranchisement’ = those who have committed felonies were not able to vote, this constituted around 1/13 black americans
• 11 states more than 10% were disenfranchised
• Tennessee over 20% disenfranchised
• Wyoming 36.2% disenfranchised
  *the felony disenfranchisement rate for all adult citizens in that state was just 2.6%.
• in Husted v Randolph Institute (2018), if someone had not voted in a long time and didnt respond quick enough to a letter asking if they still wanted to vote, they would be struck of the voting register

Question 13

what was the voting turnout for the election in 2016

Answer 13

• white = 65.3%
• black = 59.6%