Voting Rights and Private Rights of Action: An Empirical Study of Litigation Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 1982-2024

Authors

• Christopher B. Seaman, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Florida State University Law Review

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

The Voting Rights Act is perhaps the most effective civil rights law ever enacted, bringing millions of Americans who have historically been discriminated against into the democratic polity and facilitating the election of candidates of their choice. But for more than a decade, the rights guaranteed by this landmark statute have been undermined by the courts. Recently, the Eighth Circuit has eroded what remains of the Act by holding that private plaintiffs cannot sue to enforce the protections of Section 2 in federal court. This holding—which conflicts with several other circuits, as well as prior Supreme Court decisions regarding implied rights of action to enforce other parts of the Voting Rights Act—seems likely to be reviewed by the Court.

To assess the potential impact of a possible nationwide ban on private plaintiffs bringing Section 2 claims, this Article reports findings from a comprehensive empirical study of over 1500 challenges brought in federal court between 1982 and 2024. It finds that over 90% of Section 2 challenges were brought by private plaintiffs rather than the Attorney General. Moreover, private plaintiffs were highly successful in these challenges, winning nearly two-thirds of the time. The Article then explains why, if Section 2 lacks a private cause of action, the federal government is ill-equipped as both a practical and a political matter to fill this gap in enforcement.

Recommended Citation

Christopher B. Seaman, Voting Rights and Private Rights of Action: An Empirical Study of Litigation Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 1982-2024, 53 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 569 (2026).