Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act
The election of an African American as President of the United States has raised questions regarding the continued relevance and even constitutionality of various provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Barack Obama’s apparent success among white voters in 2008 has caused some commentators to que...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Harvard Law Review Pub. Association
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71658 |
| _version_ | 1826200236867977216 |
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| author | Ansolabehere, Stephen Persily, Nathaniel Stewart III, Charles |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science Ansolabehere, Stephen Persily, Nathaniel Stewart III, Charles |
| author_sort | Ansolabehere, Stephen |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The election of an African American as President of the United States has raised questions regarding the continued relevance and even constitutionality of various provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Barack Obama’s apparent success among white voters in 2008 has caused some commentators to question the background conditions of racially polarized voting that are key to litigation under section 2 of the VRA. His success in certain states, such as Virginia, has also raised doubts about the formula for coverage of jurisdictions under section 5 of the VRA. This Article examines the data from the 2008 primary and general elections to assess the geographic patterns of racial differences in voting behavior. The data suggest that significant differences remain between white and minority voters and among jurisdictions that are covered and not covered by section 5 of the VRA. These differences remain even when controlling for partisanship, ideology, and a host of other politically relevant variables. This Article discusses the implications of President Obama’s election for legal conceptions of racially polarized voting and for decisions concerning which jurisdictions section 5 ought to cover. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:33:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/71658 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:33:19Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Harvard Law Review Pub. Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/716582022-09-27T20:16:56Z Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act Ansolabehere, Stephen Persily, Nathaniel Stewart III, Charles Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science Ansolabehere, Stephen Ansolabehere, Stephen The election of an African American as President of the United States has raised questions regarding the continued relevance and even constitutionality of various provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Barack Obama’s apparent success among white voters in 2008 has caused some commentators to question the background conditions of racially polarized voting that are key to litigation under section 2 of the VRA. His success in certain states, such as Virginia, has also raised doubts about the formula for coverage of jurisdictions under section 5 of the VRA. This Article examines the data from the 2008 primary and general elections to assess the geographic patterns of racial differences in voting behavior. The data suggest that significant differences remain between white and minority voters and among jurisdictions that are covered and not covered by section 5 of the VRA. These differences remain even when controlling for partisanship, ideology, and a host of other politically relevant variables. This Article discusses the implications of President Obama’s election for legal conceptions of racially polarized voting and for decisions concerning which jurisdictions section 5 ought to cover. 2012-07-17T18:41:14Z 2012-07-17T18:41:14Z 2010-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0017-811X 2161-976X Working Paper No. 2011‐1 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71658 Ansolabehere, Stephen, Nathaniel Persily, and Charles Stewart III. "Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act." Harvard Law Review (2010) 123.6 p.1-52. en_US http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/123/april10/Article_6958.php Harvard Law Review Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Harvard Law Review Pub. Association SSRN |
| spellingShingle | Ansolabehere, Stephen Persily, Nathaniel Stewart III, Charles Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title | Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title_full | Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title_fullStr | Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title_full_unstemmed | Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title_short | Race, Region, and Vote Choice in the 2008 Election: Implications for the Future of the Voting Rights Act |
| title_sort | race region and vote choice in the 2008 election implications for the future of the voting rights act |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71658 |
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