Our freedom depends on our right to vote. When those in power try to take that right away from us, we turn to the courts. That’s why it’s so important to have fair-minded judges and justices who will protect our rights and our democracy.
We’ve seen Trump judges write or cast key votes in cases that have harmed these vital rights, while Biden judges have instead protected them. From dismantling protections afforded by the Voting Rights Act to insulating Trump and future presidents from criminal liability for violating federal laws, including in connection with elections, Trump judges and justices have damaged voting rights in serious ways.
Let’s look at some recent decisions by Trump judges and justices, and compare those to decisions by Biden/Harris judges to see who is more likely to protect our precious voting rights.
Trump judges and justices have ruled on a variety of voting rights issues
- The three Trump justices (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett) cast deciding votes to immunize Trump and all presidents from criminal prosecution for even deliberate violation of federal criminal law in most circumstances, including his effort to reverse the 2020 presidential election.
- They seriously weakened Black voting strength through deciding votes to uphold Arizona practices that harm minority voters and make it harder to challenge such practices under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
- They also reversed a lower court judgment that invalidated a South Carolina redistricting scheme because it found that the plan was unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
- Kavanaugh and Gorsuch cast the deciding votes in a 5-4 ruling saying federal courts cannot consider challenges to partisan gerrymandering and in a decision this year that ruled Congress must pass specific laws in order to bar insurrectionists from holding office.
- In one of numerous similar lower court cases around the country, Trump judge Steven Grasz cast the deciding vote to effectively block the counting of many mail-in votes in Missouri before the 2020 election.
- Trump judge Elizabeth Branch wrote a 2-1 decision that upheld an Alabama voter ID law, even though it was undisputed that minority voters were twice as likely as whites to lack required ID.
- Trump judge David Stras wrote a devastating 2-1 opinion ruling that civil rights groups and other private plaintiffs cannot bring lawsuits charging voter discrimination under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. For now, the decision applies only in the Eighth Circuit, including Arkansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Montana, and North and South Dakota.
Biden judges have strengthened voting rights and protected democracy
In clear contrast to Trump judges and justices, Biden judges have issued a number of rulings that have improved voting rights and defended our democracy. Here are just a few:
- Biden judges Florence Pan and Michelle Childs ordered a Trump attorney to immediately produce a number of documents sought by special counsel Jack Smith in his probe of Donald Trump’s criminal efforts to remain in power after being voted out of office.
- Biden judge Bridget Brennan struck down an Ohio law that conflicted with the Voting Rights Act by making it harder for disabled voters to cast absentee ballots.
- Biden judge Zahid Quraishi prevented New Jersey from using a primary ballot system that favored candidates backed by party bosses. The system, he explained, violates both the First Amendment and the Constitution’s election clause. The ruling was affirmed, a new ballot was used in the primaries, and the result, it was noted, “jumpstarts democracy” in the state.
- Biden judge Toby Heytens overturned a Trump district judge and ruled that citizens and states can seek to bar participants in a rebellion against the US, like January 6, from running for office under the Fourteenth Amendment. Unfortunately, this ruling was later undermined by a 2024 Supreme Court decision made possible by Trump justices.
- Biden judge Lydia Kay Griggsby blocked a Baltimore County redistricting plan that harmed Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. She later approved a revised plan that remedied the problem.
Voting rights are on the line this election
The courts, especially the Supreme Court, will play a crucial role in voting rights issues in the coming years. It’s up to us to decide who we want nominating judges and justices to make these extremely important decisions. Our democracy depends on voting rights, and we need Kamala Harris who will nominate judges who will defend voting rights and protect our democracy. And we need a Democratic Senate to confirm them.
