Rick HasenVerified account

So now all adult, citizen, resident non-felons have a formal right to vote. /2

And the struggle is over the rules Congress and the states impose to allow people to exercise that right. /3

While Congress has generally passed laws protecting the franchise, things have been different in the states. /4

Some states, with Republican legislatures and governors, have passed laws making it harder to register and to vote. /5

These Republican-passed laws are sometimes justified on anti-fraud grounds, or administrative efficiency, or public confidence. /6

But when it gets down to it, they are usually motivated by a desire to depress Democratic/minority turnout and gain political advantage. /7

As to the one-way ratchet argument "why can Democrats expand voting rights but Republicans cannot contract them?", /8

the answer depends on view of the franchise. If voting is about allocating power among political equals, then courts should not allow /9