[EL] poverty discussion in voting rights cases

[Hess, Doug]

In skimming the text of the ACLU Sumter County order, link below, the discussion of poverty and socio-economic status in the order reminded of a question I've had for some time. 

What is (or was) the reason for drawing attention to inequalities in a community or the connection between poverty and voting rights?

Is it that a community with such disparity implies that policies are not addressing communities fairly which implies that the election system does not represent interests?

Or is it that such disparity implies a community could be susceptible to suppression (an argument in the 1960s in the South was that poverty makes political participation more risky) and therefore election design needs closer scrutiny, so to speak?

At the end of the first section, the order concludes that "[t]hese disparities result in decreased political participation." But that doesn't explain the discussion on inequality. I.e., why don't they look at the disparity in participation directly?

Thanks for any background on this.

https://www.acluga.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu-sumter-county-court-order-on-preliminary-injunction-2018.pdf

Douglas R Hess
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Grinnell College
1210 Park Street, Carnegie Hall #309
Grinnell, IA 50112 
phone: 641-269-4383

http://www.douglasrhess.com