Did New Voter Laws Tip the Election?

On Tuesday, Donald Trump was elected President despite trailing his opponent in nearly every poll.

One question is whether the election result was affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision inShelby County v. Holder? In the case, a 5-4 majority of the court found Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act to be unconstitutional. Section 4 was the formula that determined which state and local governments needed to obtain approval from a federal court or the U.S. Justice Department before changing their voter laws.

The ruling paved the way for some states, including ones Trump won such as Wisconsin, to pass more restrictive voter ...