[EL] Vote Suppression and the State Action Requirement

Thu Dec 6 11:11:13 PST 2012

In 1941, the United States Supreme Court considered it "obvious" that Art.
I, sections 2 & 4 not only secured the rights of voters to cast their
ballots as well as to have them counted in a Louisiana primary election for
Congress, but that these protections for the right to vote applied to
private individuals and not just state action:

"Obviously included within the right to choose, secured by the
Constitution, is the right of qualified voters within a state to cast their
ballots and have them counted at Congressional elections. This Court has
consistently held that this is a right secured by the Constitution. *Ex
parte Yarbrough,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1453834773250298071&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*; **Wiley* v. *Sinkler,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12191397299217308964&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*; **Swafford* v. *Templeton,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16027969263053773004&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*; **United States* v. *Mosley,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10732654112115122424&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*;* see *Ex parte Siebold,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5573651186846944618&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*; **In re Coy,* 127 U.S.
731<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13279283714598609060&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>;
*Logan* v. *United States,* 144 U.S.
263<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3064567383585346544&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>.
And *since the constitutional command is without restriction or limitation,
the right, unlike those guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Amendments, is secured against the action of individuals as well as of
states*. *Ex parte Yarbrough,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1453834773250298071&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*; **Logan* v. *United States,
supra*<http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3064567383585346544&hl=en&as_sdt=2,23&as_vis=1>
*.*"

United States v. Classic, 313 US 299 (1941)

Paul Lehto, J.D.

On Thu, Dec 6, 2012 at 1:30 PM, Scarberry, Mark <
Mark.Scarberry at pepperdine.edu> wrote:

> What is the role of the state action requirement in constitutional
> challenges to private efforts to “suppress” voting? (I put “suppress” in
> quotes not to suggest that vote suppression isn’t a serious matter but
> because list members may disagree about what constitutes vote suppression.)
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Neither the 14th nor 15th Amendments are violated by purely private
> conduct, though I think Akhil Amar has suggested that the 14thAmendment’s citizenship provisions could create rights applicable directly
> against non-state actors. Political party actions can be treated in some
> cases as state action under the government function doctrine (as in the
> White Primary cases), but where is the line?****
>
> ** **
>
> I know that Congress may prohibit private action that would interfere with
> voting (under the badges and incidents of slavery interpretation of section
> 2 of the 13th Amendment, if I remember correctly, and perhaps, though I
> don’t know of any cases, under Art. I, sec. 4, cl. 1).  My question has to
> do with direct constitutional protections against private interference with
> the right to vote.****
>
> ** **
>
> Mark S. Scarberry****
>
> Pepperdine Univ. School of Law****
>
> Malibu, CA 90263****
>
> (310)506-4667****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 06, 2012 9:53 AM
> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/6/12****
>
> ** **
>
> …****
>
> ****
> “‘Voter Suppression,’ Debunked” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45157> ****
>
> Posted on December 6, 2012 9:49 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45157>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> James Taranto WSJ post.<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324640104578161380952380820.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
> ****
>
> One response to Taranto’s point appears in Janai Nelson’s excellent draft
> article <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2180968>on
> SSRN, in which she writes: “Despite suggestions that voter suppression
> tactics can trigger a ‘backlash’ increase in minority voter turnout, these
> tactics nonetheless violate the VRA‘s core principle—to ensure that the
> race of a voter has no bearing on her ability to vote. Moreover, the
> “backlash effect” does not negate the increased burden placed on
> minorities‘ right to vote even if, ultimately and intermittently, minority
> voters can bear it and win.”****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D45157&title=%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Voter%20Suppression%2C%E2%80%99%20Debunked%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments
> Off ****
>
> ** **
>
> …****
>
> ** **
>
> -- ****
>
> Rick Hasen****
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science****
>
> UC Irvine School of Law****
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000****
>
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000****
>
> 949.824.3072 - office****
>
> 949.824.0495 - fax****
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu****
>
> http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html****
>
> http://electionlawblog.org****
>
> Now available: The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv****
>
> ** **
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>

-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box 1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
lehto.paul at gmail.com
906-204-4965 (cell)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20121206/bc06fd77/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1504 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20121206/bc06fd77/attachment.png>