When the United States was founded, slaves, people without property, women, and Native Americans did not have the right to vote. Over generations, laws and amendments have addressed these democratic oversight. The most sweeping and historical legislation was passed by Congress in 1965 -- the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which outlawed discrimination in voting, expanding expanded voting rights to African Americans, women and young people and removed barriers such as poll taxes.
Today, more than half a century later, many people still have difficulty accessing polls. In recent years, many states have passed laws making voting for certain populations especially difficult. These include voter ID laws, restrictions on opportunities to register, and reduced early voting options. Such laws have been known to suppress voting by the elderly, young people, poor people and people of color. The US Congress has repeatedly found that discrimination in voting continues, and has reauthorized the VRA four times, most recently in 2006.
The goal of the legislation has been subverted however, by a 2013 US Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. That ruling invalidated an obligation – called preclearance – that required states with a history of discrimination in voting to have any proposed changes to their state’s voting laws to be reviewed by the federal government. States are no longer required to have a review of their proposed laws. This means that any communities facing discriminatory voting laws in their state must file suits themselves or rely on the Justice Department to challenge proposed laws.
As a result of Shelby, several states have passed a wave of laws that make voting cumbersome for poor people, people of color, and elderly people. In these states, laws that made it easier to register or cast have been revised, creating barriers to voting.
The struggle for full voting rights in the United States continues – and requires vigilance from everyone to make sure the UDHR vision of “full and equal suffrage” is ensured.
When the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade on June 24, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people across the United States were horrified to learn that, in addition to having protection of key reproductive rights rolled back, their marriages and relationships could be next.
(Poltava, Ukraine, June 30, 2022) – Russian forces launched a missile which struck a shopping center in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, on June 27, 2022. The attack killed at least 18 civilians, according to local authorities, and wounded dozens of others, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 29, 36 people remained missing, as rescue efforts continued.
Turkish police attacked and arrested hundreds at the Istanbul Pride March last weekend, in a sweeping display of violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, as well as journalists attempting to report on the June 26 event. The number of arrests in 2022 is three-times more than the arrests during the previous seven Istanbul Pride marches combined. Thirty-four of those arrested were youth, according to Kaos GL, a Turkish LGBT rights group.
July 1, 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty from British to Chinese rule, and the city’s authorities will celebrate with an official ceremony. But this curated image belies the Hong Kong government’s repression.
More than 50 people died of heat exhaustion in the back of an abandoned truck in south Texas while migrating to the United States, a horrific tragedy that should serve as a wakeup call to lawmakers.
Iranian authorities sentenced five prominent human rights defenders to prison on June 19, 2022, for attempting to file a legal complaint against government agencies and officials for mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis.
The deaths of at least 23 African men at the Melilla-Morocco border on June 24, 2022 requires an independent, impartial investigation capable of determining what occurred and who bears responsibility for such loss of life, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Islamabad High Court has provided a glimmer of hope for hundreds of victims of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.
President Joe Biden is bringing the Saudi crown prince in from the cold. Mohammed bin Salman’s human rights record remains abysmal, but Biden seems to have decided that — to lower fuel prices and strengthen the alliance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — he must stop keeping the crown prince at arm’s length. But the decision to meet MBS, as he is often called, risks being profoundly counterproductive.
The Indian authorities should immediately release the prominent human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, drop all charges against her, and stop their relentless attacks against her.
Sudan’s tenacious street protesters and other supporters of the social movement have continued to take to the streets and find ways to express their resistance to the country’s October 2021 military coup.
A breakthrough in the investigations into the murders of two political activists in the Maldives may finally offer hope for justice.
Although a violation of international law, Polish border guards almost daily summarily push back asylum seekers attempting to cross the Polish-Belarus border. However, a Warsaw court has renewed hope that this practice might end by ruling a November expulsion order to be unlawful.
It was heartbreaking for me to hear the daughters of slain environmental and Indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres call her mami at a meeting in Tegucigalpa in January. They told me they are carrying on her fight at the helm of the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH). The 2016 killing of Cáceres, a Lenca Indigenous leader, is emblematic of the dangers to human rights defenders in Honduras.
From the North American tundra to the South American Patagonia, an estimated 852 million people live in countries with marriage equality. Despite these high numbers, the Americas have a way to go before becoming a true beacon for same-sex couples. Countries with marriage equality should harness their remarkable advances thus far and urge the rest of the region to join the America’s growing marriage equality bloc.