Asian American Justice Center Files Brief in Supreme Court Voting Rights Case 

Washington, D.C. – The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and its affiliates—the Asian American Institute, Asian Law Caucus and Asian Pacific American Legal Center—and along with 17 other organizations filed a friend of the court brief in support of Appellee U.S. Department of Justice in the matter of Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder (NAMUDNO). The case, scheduled to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in April, may determine the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

The Voting Rights Act (VRA) was overwhelmingly approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. Section 5 is a critical component of the VRA and requires jurisdictions with egregious histories of discrimination in voting to get federal approval, or preclearance, of their new voting practices or procedures before they can be implemented. Sixteen states, or parts of states, are covered by Section 5. Preclearance may be obtained by making an administrative submission to the Department of Justice or by filing a suit for declaratory judgment. The submitting jurisdiction has the burden of showing that the proposed change will not have a discriminatory purpose or effect. The lower courts have unanimously ruled that Congress had acted appropriately in reauthorizing the law because of the “continuing problem of racial discrimination in voting.”

“The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s race, color or previous condition of servitude,” said Vincent A. Eng, deputy director of AAJC. “Congress and President Bush determined that the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance requirements were necessary and still relevant to prevent discrimination at the polls and to uphold the ideas to protect the democratic process and to exercise the voting franchise.”

AAJC’S brief highlights continuing disparities faced by Asian American populations in Section 5-covered jurisdictions with respect to voter registration and turnout, electoral representation and racial discrimination in voting. For example, in the nine states that are wholly covered by Section 5 (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia), only five Asian Americans held state office in 2007. And in the 2008 general election, only 58 percent of Georgia’s Asian American registered voters turned out to vote compared to 77 percent of white registered voters.

“As Asian American populations continue to increase rapidly in jurisdictions covered by Section 5, levels of racial tension and discrimination against racial minorities can be expected to increase,” said Terry M. Ao, director of voting and census at AAJC. “Section 5 provides an important tool in combating voting discrimination against politically emerging Asian American populations and is essential to ensuring access to the polls by Asian Americans.”

The amicus brief was also joined by the Asian American Business Roundtable, Asian Law Alliance, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, Asian & Pacific Islander Health Forum, Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote, Boat People SOS, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, Hmong National Development, Japanese American Citizens League, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Organization of Chinese Americans, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.