Samuel Alito’s Voting Rights Act ruling cited misleading data from DoJ
Exclusive: Data in justice department filing quoted in landmark supreme court decision relied on questionable methodology, Guardian analysis finds
TL;DR
- A Guardian review found that Justice Samuel Alito's claims about Black voter turnout in a landmark Voting Rights Act case were based on a misleading data analysis.
- Alito's opinion cited a Justice Department brief that used the total voting-age population to calculate Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana, a methodology experts consider unusual and misleading.
- This approach yielded Alito's conclusion that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five most recent presidential elections nationwide and in Louisiana.
- When using more widely accepted methodologies like the citizen voting-age population, Black voter turnout in Louisiana only exceeded white turnout in the 2012 presidential election.
- Experts, including political science professor Michael McDonald, stated that the Justice Department's approach of including ineligible voters in the denominator is misleading.
- The Justice Department acknowledged using total voting-age population but did not explain why.
- Data from the Louisiana secretary of state's office, using registered voters, showed Black turnout has not exceeded white turnout in any of the last five presidential elections in Louisiana.
- Nationally, Black voter turnout exceeded white turnout in 2008 and 2012 when Barack Obama was on the ballot, but has lagged white turnout in the three most recent presidential elections.
- The Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965 due to significant racial disparities in voting, particularly in the South.
- The Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which weakened federal pre-approval for election changes in areas with a history of discrimination, is seen by some as contributing to the widening racial turnout gap.