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The Voting Rights Institute

The Voting Rights Institute

Helping voting rights attorneys, future attorneys and experts combat discriminatory voting practices across the country.

Fighting for the right to vote MFDP

 

When the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) was passed, it provided two major mechanisms to combat discriminatory voting rights practices in the United States. First, Section 2 of the law provided an affirmative right of action to challenge discriminatory voting practices in court. Second, Section 5 required jurisdictions with a long history of discriminatory voting practices to submit all voting-related law changes to the Department of Justice or the District Court in D.C. before they could go into effect.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court nullified Section 5 and, in response, states launched an all-out assault on voting rights. The VRI was created to empower advocates and activists to protect the precious right to vote. 

 

The VRI
1800+ 

Attorneys, law students, and community activists trained to protect against discriminatory voting laws and practices

1950+

Voting rights litigation files in the VRI database

50+

Litigators and expert witnesses in the VRI network

 

Trainings: 

The VRI holds panel discussions, know-your-rights workshops and film screenings at colleges, law schools, and law offices across the country to train lawyers, law students and community activists about voter suppression tactics and how to challenge them.

If you’re interested in bringing a VRI training to your campus or office, contact [email protected].

The VRI Toolkit

The VRI Toolkit is a one-of-a kind database of expert reports and legal documents from past voting rights cases. This database makes it easier and more cost-effective for voting rights attorneys to locate documents essential to winning voting rights protections.

If you’re an attorney or expert combatting discriminatory voting practices, apply for access to the VRI Toolkit. 

Apply Here
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