Title: 20-01pp.758
1. Which of the following statements best describes the position Chief Justice Rehnquist took in
his written opinion about the Supreme Court’s decision to hear Bush v. Gore?
2. Which amendment ensures that the right to vote cannot be denied on account of a person’s
sex?
3. Which of the following statements best describes the Supreme Court’s decision in Oregon v.
Mitchell? (note that the decision occurred before the Twenty-sixth Amendment was passed.)
4. Which of the following statements about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is not true?
5. In what case did the Supreme Court uphold the Voting Rights Act of 1965? _______
6. Taxes on the privilege to vote in state and local elections were invalidated by _______.
7. What political body is in charge of apportionment (the devising of legislative districts)?
8. Which of the following statements best describes the Court’s decision in its first major
apportionment case, Colegrove v. Green?
9. Which of the following statements is true?
10. What standard has the Supreme Court applied to legislative redistricting based on race?
11. Which of the following statements best describes the election of African American
representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives in the past twenty years?
12. The Court upheld the voter identification law in Crawford.
13. Buckley v. Valeo set the general standard that _______.
14. In Shelby County the Court ruled that _______.
15. In Bush v. Gore, what justification did the majority opinion give for overruling the Florida
Supreme Court and halting the recount?
16. In Bush v. Gore, why did the dissenters argue that the Supreme Court should not have heard
the case?
17. Following the Civil War, “the power to set voting rights policy began a steady shift.” What
was the nature of this shift? What are two constitutional amendments that symbolize this shift?
18. In his majority opinion in Baker v. Carr what justification did Justice Brennan give for
hearing the case despite the Court’s previous ruling in Colegrove v. Green?
19. In Reynolds v. Sims, what did the majority of the Court say about Alabama’s plan to follow
the federal model for its bicameral state legislature? What justification did the Court give for its
decision?
20. What are majority-minority districts? How did the majority of the Court rule on the
constitutionality of designing such districts in Shaw v. Reno and Miller v. Johnson?
21. Describe at least three provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that increased protection
against racial discrimination at the voting booth.
22. How have political strategists attempted to thwart campaign finance laws since the Federal
Election Campaign Act was passed in 1971?
23. What rationale did Chief Justice Roberts use to justify striking down Sections 4 and 5 of the
Voting Rights Act in Shelby County?
24. How did the dissenters respond to the majority argument in Shelby County?
25. Describe how the Court’s jurisprudence in voting rights cases has changed over time. Rather
than simply provide a chronological explanation of these cases, be sure to provide an analysis of
the major cases in this area and how they fit with one another (for example, was a past case
overruled or upheld, and why?). Then explain the Court’s current stance in this area of the law,
including an analysis of how Bush v. Gore fits with existing voting rights precedents. Finally,
based on the makeup of the Court today, how do you see the Court deciding voting rights cases
in the near future and why?
26. In a 2006 lawsuit, McAdams v. Bush, plaintiffs sought to overturn a section of Florida’s
voting law. The section in question, passed 142 years ago, bans voting by people with felony
convictions. Under this law, more than six hundred thousand people are barred from voting, and
one in ten African Americans is barred from voting. McAdams argues that the law violates the
Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. After winning his case at trial, but losing in the state
supreme court, McAdams asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the case and ultimately to rule
that the law violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act as well as the equal protection clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. Given that other states have restored voting rights to former convicts,
how would you decide this case? Be sure to make clear references to existing precedent to justify
your decision.