This panel discussed the emergence of a new slate of restrictive voting laws and election practices that threaten to abridge the rights of millions of Blacks, Latinos, and members of other marginalized communities. The political context in which these practices arose was examined, as was the controversial justifications given for their enactment. Most importantly, the panelists considered the legal challenges to these practices, and the ways the resulting cases in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina have reshaped legal understandings of the VRA and election law.

Moderator: Spencer A. Overton, Professor of Law, George Washington University