A Decade After Shelby County, Voting Rights Advocates Call for Action

The Brennan Center for Justice reports that one-third of these new restrictions emerged in states previously subject to preclearance—a process that once forced jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination to secure federal approval for policy changes. Without this guardrail, states have implemented rules that disproportionately impact low-income voters and communities of color. The Brennan Center noted that since the 2020 election, twenty states have passed thirty-two laws specifically targeting mail-in voting access.

Texas serves as a primary example of this shift. The state moved immediately to implement a strict voter ID law the same day the Shelby decision was handed down, and later introduced requirements for mail ballot identification numbers that led to the rejection of thousands of votes cast by Latino, Asian, and Black residents in 2022. Sherrilyn Ifill, former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, described the ruling as a catastrophe that allowed the Republican Party to turn voter suppression into a national policy.

While the Supreme Court suggested in 2013 that Congress could establish a new coverage formula to restore preclearance, lawmakers have yet to do so. Advocates are currently pressing for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to establish national standards. U.S. Representative Terri Sewell of Alabama emphasized that while recent court decisions have provided some hope, the burden of protecting access to the ballot box now rests on legislative action and sustained public mobilization.