"The factual claim, that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five most recent presidential elections, comes "almost verbatim" from an amicus brief filed by the Trump Department of Justice. Alito cited this data to support the premise that the Voting Rights Act was unnecessary."
"But a review of turnout and racial data in Louisiana reveals that assertion relies on an unusual methodology. The justice department brief that Alito cited calculated Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana as a proportion of the total population of each racial group over the age of 18. Such an approach is not preferred by experts in calculating statewide turnout because the general over-18 population may include non-citizens, people with felony convictions and others who cannot legally vote."
"But it does yield Alito's conclusion that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in Louisiana. One would hope this speaks to why Alito delivered such an unhinged response when Justice Jackson baited him into acknowledging that the Callais opinion was reverse engineered."
A majority opinion striking down the Voting Rights Act cited turnout comparisons between Black and white voters in Louisiana. The cited claim that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five most recent presidential elections closely matched an amicus brief filed by the Trump Department of Justice. The brief calculated turnout as a proportion of each racial group’s total population over age 18. Experts generally avoid this approach for statewide turnout because over-18 populations can include non-citizens, people with felony convictions, and others who cannot legally vote. Using that method can produce the conclusion that Black turnout exceeded white turnout in 2012 and 2016, even if the methodology is not preferred for measuring eligible voter turnout.
Read at Above the Law
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