<x-flowed>List members may be interested in a new project here at Michigan.  I've been working with the Michigan Election Law Project, a student organization at U-M Law School, to create  the Voting Rights Initiative (VRI).  Over the course of Winter-Spring 2005, the VRI will examine and analyze all published opinions decided under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act since 1982.  In particular, the VRI will focus on how courts have applied the factors listed in the Senate Report accompanying the 1982 amendments.  All information collected will be entered into a database that will be posted on an accessible public website.  Simple searches on the website will enable interested researchers to obtain lists of all section 2 decisions involving any of the specified factors or combinations of them.  The site will also include a report of significant judicial findings, as well as some student analysis of unique state or local trends of interest.

The Voting Rights Initiative includes a team of 92 Michigan Law students.  The VRI welcomes suggestions and feedback to make the data collection process both effective and valuable to the voting rights community.  If you would like more information, feel free to contact me or Emma Cheuse, Lead Director, Voting Rights Initiative, at <mailto:echeuse@umich.edu>echeuse@umich.edu.  
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