[EL] VA legislative plans precleared

[David Becker]

For the record, it's not accurate to state that "the VRARA ... [blocked the] possibility [of reducing black vote to under 50 percent].  Since at least the 90s, 50 percent has not been a black line rule in assessing ability to elect under Section 5.  While it's relevant to the analysis, and it may be more difficult to demonstrate ability to elect if percentages fall below 50, there are districts where the DOJ has not objected where the minority percentage in one or more of the significant measurements (VAP, CVAP, REG) has dipped below 50, so long as ability to elect has been maintained (usually through reliable and consistent crossover voting).  There were such districts in the 2001 Georgia statewide legislative plans, for instance.  


David J. Becker
Project Director, Election Initiatives
The Pew Center on the States
901 E Street NW | 10th Floor 
Washington, DC  20004
p: 202.552.2136 | f: 202.552.2299
e: dbecker at pewtrusts.org | www.pewtrusts.org

-----Original Message-----
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Abigail Thernstrom
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 1:46 PM
To: Michael McDonald
Cc: 'Election Law'
Subject: Re: [EL] VA legislative plans precleared


	Gee, Michael, I don't see the significance here.  Would be noteworthy  
if DOJ had precleared districts in which the black vote had been  
reduced to under 50 percent.  But of course the VRARA superceded  
Ashcroft, blocking that possibility.  And the new guidelines, tracking  
the 2006 statutory language, explicitly state: "Any change affecting  
voting that has the purpose of or will have the effect of diminishing  
the ability of any citizens of the United States on account of race,  
color, or membership in a language minority group to elect their  
preferred candidates of choice denies or abridges the right to vote  
within the meaning of section 5."

	DOJ stuck to the letter of the revised statute and new regs.

	Sorry for the delay in answer; Just catching up on my email.

	Abby

Abigail Thernstrom
Vice-chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
www.thernstrom.com


On Jun 17, 2011, at 6:31 PM, Michael McDonald wrote:

> Both Virginia legislative plans were pre-cleared this afternoon by  
> DOJ. This
> is significant because the Democratic state Senate plan reduced the
> African-American voting-age population of 3 voting rights districts  
> (but
> kept them above 50%).
>
> ============
> Dr. Michael P. McDonald
> Associate Professor, George Mason University
> Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
>
>                              Mailing address:
> (o) 703-993-4191             George Mason University
> (f) 703-993-1399             Dept. of Public and International Affairs
> mmcdon at gmu.edu               4400 University Drive - 3F4
> http://elections.gmu.edu     Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election






_______________________________________________
Law-election mailing list
Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election