Racial Gaps in Voter Turnout Are Widening After Dismantling of the Voting Rights Act

The gap between white and nonwhite voter turnout has grown steadily since the Supreme Court gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, a new report has found. Section 5 required nine mostly Southern states with a history of racially discriminatory voting policies to obtain federal approval before making changes to their voting laws and processes. The report, which examines the impact of the dismantling of Section 5, found that the gap in voter turnout is growing fastest in states formerly covered by Section 5 – and between white and Black voters in those areas.

On the same day that the Supreme Court announced its Shelby decision, Texas passed a discriminatory voter ID law that had previously been blocked by the federal government. Similar laws designed to disenfranchise Black voters were quickly passed by Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina.

In the 2022 midterm elections, the gap between white and nonwhite voters reached 18 percent – representing nearly 14 million uncast ballots from voters of color that year.

Read the report: Brennan Center for Justice: Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022