The Right Side of History: Protecting Voting Rights in America

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) has been a powerful tool to protect Asian Americans from discrimination and increase the community’s access to the ballot. Unfortunately, this tool has been rendered less effective in the wake of harmful and short-sighted decisions by the Supreme Court, including Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 2 (2013) (Shelby County) more than a decade ago. As one of the nation’s fastest growing racial groups, Asian Americans are also an increasingly significant part of the electorate. Unfortunately, the community has yet to maximize its political power and will be unable to do so without a restored and strengthened VRA to fully protect their right to vote.