Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Since 1982

The Voting Rights Initiative ("VRI") at the University of Michigan Law School was created during the winter of 2005 to help inform [...] the debates that led to this latest congressional reauthorization and the legal challenge to it that is certain to follow. A cooperative research venture involving 100 students working under faculty direction set out to produce a detailed portrait of litigation brought since 1982 under Section 2. This Report evaluates the results of that survey. The comprehensive data set may be found in a searchable form at http://www.votingreport.org or http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/votingrights.

The aim of this report and the accompanying website is to contribute to a critical understanding of current opportunities for effective political participation on the part of those minorities the Voting Rights Act seeks to protect.