Who can defend voting rights? An appeals court ruling sharply limiting lawsuits looks likely to head to the Supreme Court

By Anthony Michael Kreis
Georgia State University

(THE CONVERSATION) A federal appeals court in Arkansas ruled on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, that only the federal government – not private citizens or civil rights groups – could sue to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

This decision will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court – but if it stands, it could gut individual people’s and civil rights groups’ legal right to fight racial discrimination in voting.