Voting Rights
Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Hunt
The ACLU and ACLU of Minnesota intervened as defendants to block an attempt by Minnesota Voters Alliance -- a private plaintiff group -- to challenge a law that restored voting rights to individuals convicted of a felony while they are "not incarcerated for the offense" and "including any period when they are on work release."
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2024
![Louisiana](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/03/Depositphotos_466919260_S-600x400.jpg)
Callais v. Landry
Whether the congressional map Louisiana adopted to cure a Voting Rights Act violation in Robinson v. Ardoin is itself unlawful as a gerrymander.
Status: Ongoing
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Nebraska Supreme Court
Jul 2024
![Nebraska vote](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/07/Vote-Nebraska-600x400.jpg)
Spung v. Evnen
Less than four months before the November 2024 presidential election, the Nebraska Secretary of State issued a directive embracing a non-binding opinion issued by the state Attorney General that would essentially reinstate permanent felony disenfranchisement and re-disenfranchise tens of thousands of Nebraska citizens. This directive is violative of both the Nebraska Constitution and several state statutes, and urgent relief is needed to avoid mass disenfranchisement of an entire class of Nebraska citizens.
Status: Ongoing
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South Carolina Supreme Court
Jul 2024
![South CArolina Supreme](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/07/GQStblrWIAAVtQW-600x315.jpg)
League of Women Voters of South Carolina v. Alexander
This case involves a state constitutional challenge to South Carolina’s 2022 congressional redistricting plan, which legislators admit was drawn to entrench a 6-1 Republican majority in the state’s federal delegation. Plaintiff the League of Women Voters of South Carolina has asked the state’s Supreme Court to conclude that the congressional map is an unlawful partisan gerrymander that violates the state constitution.
Status: Ongoing
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Ohio
Jul 2024
![dis](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/03/disability-600x400.jpg)
League of Women Voters of Ohio v. LaRose
In Ohio, HB 458 makes it a felony for any person who is not an election official or mail carrier to return an absentee voter's ballot—including voters with disabilities—unless the person assisting falls within an unduly narrow list of relatives. We are challenging the law because it violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by making it exceedingly difficult for voters with disabilities to cast their ballots.
Status: Ongoing
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Mississippi
Jul 2024
![Mississippi](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/02/MS-Redistricting-Maps-Header-600x400.jpg)
Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP v. State Board of Election Commissioners
Mississippi has a growing Black population, which is already the largest Black population percentage of any state in the country. Yet. Black Mississippians continue to be significantly under-represented in the state legislature, as Mississippi’s latest districting maps fail to reflect the reality of the state’s changing demographics. During the 2022 redistricting process, the Mississippi legislature refused to create any new districts where Black voters have a chance to elect their preferred representative. The current district lines therefore dilute the voting power of Black Mississippians and continue to deprive them of political representation that is responsive to their needs and concerns, including severe disparities in education and healthcare.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Texas
Apr 2024
![Crystal Mason](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/03/Crystal_Mason_1160x650-600x336.png)
Crystal Mason v. State of Texas
Crystal Mason thought she was performing her civic duty by filling out a provisional ballot in the 2016 election. She didn't know it would land her a five-year prison sentence, upending her family and the life she had built. At the time, Ms. Mason was on federal supervised release, a preliminary period of freedom for individuals who have served their full time of incarceration in federal prison. Ms. Mason didn’t know, and nobody told her, that the state considered her ineligible to vote while on supervised release. Because her name didn’t appear on voter rolls, she filed a provisional ballot, consistent with federal law. The state never counted her ballot but has still sought to send her to prison for an innocent mistake.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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All Cases
125 Voting Rights Cases
Sep 2017
![Black Lives Matter protest](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web15-blm-1160x864-600x446.jpg)
Voting Rights Trial in Ferguson
On December 18, 2014, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s at-large electoral system used to elect school board members.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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![Black Lives Matter protest](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web15-blm-1160x864-600x446.jpg)
Voting Rights
Voting Rights Trial in Ferguson
On December 18, 2014, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s at-large electoral system used to elect school board members.
Sep 2017
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2017
![Gill v. Whitford](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Gill v. Whitford
Whether partisan gerrymandering that entrenches a legislative majority violates the First Amendment.
Status: Ongoing
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![Gill v. Whitford](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
U.S. Supreme Court
Voting Rights
Gill v. Whitford
Whether partisan gerrymandering that entrenches a legislative majority violates the First Amendment.
Sep 2017
Status: Ongoing
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Northern California
Aug 2017
![La Follette v. Padilla](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
La Follette v. Padilla
The ACLU is suing California for invalidating the vote-by-mail ballots of tens of thousands of voters without warning. At issue is a state law that allows election officials — who have no handwriting-analysis expertise — to reject a vote-by-mail ballot without giving notice to the voter, if they think the signature on the ballot envelope does not match the one they have in the voter’s registration file. Nothing in the law tells voters they have to sign their ballot envelopes in any particular way; and voters are not informed that their ballots have been thrown out.
Status: Ongoing
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![La Follette v. Padilla](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Northern California
Voting Rights
La Follette v. Padilla
The ACLU is suing California for invalidating the vote-by-mail ballots of tens of thousands of voters without warning. At issue is a state law that allows election officials — who have no handwriting-analysis expertise — to reject a vote-by-mail ballot without giving notice to the voter, if they think the signature on the ballot envelope does not match the one they have in the voter’s registration file. Nothing in the law tells voters they have to sign their ballot envelopes in any particular way; and voters are not informed that their ballots have been thrown out.
Aug 2017
Status: Ongoing
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Massachusetts
Jul 2017
![Chelsea Collaborative v. Galvin](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Chelsea Collaborative v. Galvin
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachussetts, and others filed a lawsuit in Massachussetts challenging the state’s requirement that eligible voters register 20 days before an election. The arbitrary deadline interferes with the fundamental right to vote and unnecessarily disenfranchises voters.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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![Chelsea Collaborative v. Galvin](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Massachusetts
Voting Rights
Chelsea Collaborative v. Galvin
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachussetts, and others filed a lawsuit in Massachussetts challenging the state’s requirement that eligible voters register 20 days before an election. The arbitrary deadline interferes with the fundamental right to vote and unnecessarily disenfranchises voters.
Jul 2017
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Jul 2017
![American Civil Liberties Union v. Donald Trump](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
American Civil Liberties Union v. Donald Trump
On July 10, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit over the lack of transparency by President Trump’s election commission.
Status: Ongoing
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![American Civil Liberties Union v. Donald Trump](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Voting Rights
American Civil Liberties Union v. Donald Trump
On July 10, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit over the lack of transparency by President Trump’s election commission.
Jul 2017
Status: Ongoing
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