Open AccessBarriers to the Ballot Box: Implicit Bias and Voting Rights in the 21st Century
Author(s) -
Arusha Gordon,
Ezra D. Rosenberg
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
michigan journal of race and law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2688-5492
pISSN - 1095-2721
DOI - 10.36643/mjrl.21.1.barriers
Subject(s) - voting , ballot , context (archaeology) , law and economics , scarcity , employment discrimination , implicit bias , political science , scholarship , plaintiff , voting behavior , law , economics , positive economics , social psychology , psychology , microeconomics , politics , paleontology , biology
While much has been written regarding unconscious or “implicit bias” in other areas of law, there is a scarcity of scholarship examining how implicit bias impacts voting rights and how advocates can move courts to recognize evidence of implicit bias within the context of a voting rights claim. This Article aims to address that scarcity. After reviewing research on implicit bias, this Article examines how implicit bias might impact different stages of the electoral process. It then argues that “results test” claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) present an opportunity for plaintiffs to introduce evidence regarding implicit bias in the electoral process. In addition, this Article explores policy solutions to reduce the impact of implicit bias in elections.