Research

Amicus Brief → Democracy & Voting Rights

Amicus Brief, Merrill et.al., v. Milligan et.al.

On July 18, 2022, UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP) filed an amicus brief on behalf of UCLA Social Scientists with the U.S. Supreme Court in the voting rights case Merrill et. al., v. Milligan et. al. The VRP argued for the Court to keep the Voting Rights Act’s longstanding protections of minority voting rights intact.

Pettaway v. Galveston County, Texas

UCLA Voting Rights Project, along with the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a supplemental complaint to an ongoing lawsuit against Galveston County’s redistricting map.

Navajo Nation, et al. v. San Juan County, NM et al.

The San Juan County Board of Commissioners’ new legislative map dilutes the vote of the Indigenous population within the county, preventing them from electing their choice candidates in all but one of the five county districts.

Soto Palmer et al. v. Hobbs et al.

The UCLA Voting Rights Project, in partnership with Campaign Legal Center and MALDEF are suing the state of Washington over their newly approved legislative maps as one of the legislative districts has the effect of diluting Latino voters ability to elect candidates of choice in the Yakima Valley region.

Riverside County Redistricting Memo

As the Riverside County Board of Supervisors begins to finalize its new district map for adoption, the County must adopt a map that respects Latino voters and other communities of color that have grown over the past ten years.

Washington State Redistricting: WA Commission Map Dilutes Latino Vote and Violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

On November 15, 2021, the Washington Redistricting Commission failed to meet its constitutional deadline and timely approve fair, compliant, and equitable redistricting plans for Washington’s legislative and congressional districts.

UCLA VRP Report Urges Orange County to Create Its First Latino-Majority District During the 2021 Redistricting Process

The UCLA Voting Rights Project is urging the Orange County Board of Supervisors to create the county’s first Latino-majority supervisorial district and to increase the political influence of its growing Asian American electorate in a report issued today. The UCLA VRP’s analysis is intended to inform the 2021 district maps.

UCLA VRP Report Urges Changes to Proposed Maps in Yolo County to Preserve the Strength of the Latino Vote

The UCLA Voting Rights Project today issued a memo to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors urging them to reject redistricting map proposals that would split the Latino vote in the only supervisorial district where a Latino official has been elected.

UCLA VRP Challenge to Discriminatory Signature Matching in Yakima, Benton, and Chelan Counties, Washington

Thousands of Latino voters have had their votes disproportionally affected due to the State’s ballot signature matching provisions and processes. By rejecting ballots based off the race of a voter, Washington is violating voting rights such as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment.

UCLA VRP Challenge to Discriminatory Signature Matching in Yakima, Benton, and Chelan Counties, Washington Press Release

Yakima, Benton, and Chelan counties in Washington are disproportionately disqualify Latino votes at triple the rate of other groups.

Model Code for a State-Level Voting Rights Act

In our system of dual sovereignty, it is clear that states must offer more robust protections for an individual’s right to vote. The enactment of the model code will ensure that adopting jurisdictions provide voting protections that are higher than the federal standard, making fair and equal franchise a reality.

Georgia: COVID-19 and Language Access Litigation

During the 2020 Election, the UCLA VRP was involved in three separate projects to ensure that all eligible Georgians were able to access the ballot box. The UCLA VRP team partnered with the ACLU of Georgia and authored two separate expert reports to support litigation to access mail voting and combat long voting lines. The Project also issued a notice letter to Gwinnett County, GA on behalf of Spanish language access voters to force the county to provide important election instruction materials in Spanish on their website.

Portugal et al. v. Franklin County et al.

Franklin County’s electoral system has diluted Latino votes and has served as an effective barrier in preventing Latinos from having an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

Trump v. Boockvar (Pennsylvania)

The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State and all county boards of elections in Pennsylvania.

Election Material Language Access for the APPI Population in Tompkins County

Tompkins County has a sizable and growing Chinese population that would benefit from having bilingual elections.

Read More | August 27, 2020