Voter Suppression Laws and the Racial Turnout Gap in America.

This article examines the impact of the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which invalidated key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) that required federal oversight of election law changes in certain Southern states with histories of racial discrimination. Using voter turnout data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey for the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections, the study finds that the voter turnout gap between Black and white voters in these previously "covered" jurisdictions widened following the removal of federal preclearance requirements. The article situates these findings within a framework of Critical Race Theory, highlighting how new restrictive voting laws—such as voter ID requirements and voter roll purges—disproportionately affect African American voters. The authors conclude that federal oversight remains necessary to protect voting rights and recommend legislative action to reinstate updated preclearance provisions.