D uring the final months and weeks leading up to the November 8, 2016, presidential election, courts across the country have ruled in numerous challenges to state election laws. As a result of some of these rulings, several laws have been recently invalidated, enjoined, or altered. Leading up to the issuance of such rulings, there had been uncertainty in some states as to whether, or how, to administer certain state election laws during this election cycle. In some cases, litigation is still ongoing. For example, in Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas there have been recent court rulings affecting the laws regulating early voting, voter photo identification (ID) requirements, registration procedures, straight-party voting, and voter rolls. These decisions are notable because of their impact on state election laws shortly before a presidential election, and in some cases, because they invalidated laws that were recently enacted. Furthermore, the rulings in North Carolina and Texas have drawn attention because the challenged state laws were held, in part, to violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which generally prohibits discriminatory voting laws based on race, color, or membership in a language minority and has typically been applied in the context of challenges to redistricting maps. This report begins by setting forth key constitutional provisions relevant to recent state election law challenges. Next, it discusses federal statutory provisions contained in the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, which have been invoked in recent cases, and briefly examines pertinent Supreme Court precedent. Then, based on that legal framework, it provides an overview of several recent challenges to state election laws in Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas that resulted in major decisions by the various federal courts of appeals as illustrative examples of the types of challenges that have been playing out in the courts. Finally, the report discusses some potential implications of these challenges. Although presidential and congressional elections have national impact, they are primarily administered by state laws. The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides to the states the initial and principal authority to administer elections within their jurisdictions. As a result of this decentralized authority, there is significant variation among the states as to how the voting process and elections are administered. For example, states have enacted differing laws addressing whether and to what degree voters can cast ballots prior to the day of an election, known as early voting; the types of identification required to cast a ballot, including voter photo ID requirements; and voter registration procedures, such as whether to permit registration on the same day as an election. In addition, Congress has enacted specific overriding federal laws, including the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, with which states must comply in administering the election process. In recent cases, state election laws have been challenged under the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection and the Twenty-fourth Amendment's prohibition on poll taxes. Both provisions are set forth below: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause : "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Twenty- Fourth Am endment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." In a relatively new application of the law, recent challenges to state election laws have also invoked the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was enacted under Congress's authority to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, set forth below: Fifteenth Amendment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) , discussed be low, is a primary section of the law and applies nationwide. Recently, some state voting and election administration laws have been challenged under Section 2. This is a notable development in election law because Section 2 has most frequently been invoked in the context of redistricting and has rarely been applied outside of that context. In 2013, another key provision of the VRA, Section 5—known as the preclearance provision—was rendered inoperable by the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder . As Section 5 required prior approval of proposed changes to voting and election laws by several states and jurisdictions, and has been referenced in some of the recent court rulings, for contextual purposes, it is also discussed below. Section 2 of the VRA provides a right of action for private citizens or the government to challenge discriminatory voting practices or procedures, including the diminishing or weakening of minority voting power. Specifically, Section 2 prohibits any voting qualification or practice applied or imposed by any state or political subdivision that results in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race, color, or membership in a language minority. The statute further provides that a violation is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, electoral processes are not equally open to participation by members of a racial or language minority group in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to elect representatives of their choice. In the landmark decision Thornburg v. Gingles , the Supreme Court held that a violation of Section 2 is established if based on the "totality of the circumstances" and "as a result of the challenged practice or structure plaintiffs do not have an equal opportunity to participate in the political processes and to elect candidates of their choice." In order to facilitate determination of the totality of the circumstances, the Court listed the following factors, which originated in the legislative history accompanying enactment of Section 2: 1. the extent of any history of official discrimination in the state or political subdivision that touched the right of the members of the minority group to register, to vote, or otherwise to participate in the democratic process; 2. the extent to which voting in the elections of the state or political subdivisions is racially polarized; 3. the extent to which the state or political subdivision has used unusually large election districts, majority vote requirements, anti-single shot provisions, or other voting practices or procedures that may enhance the opportunity for discrimination against the minority group; 4. if there is a candidate slating process, whether the members of the minority group have been denied access to that process; 5. the extent to which members of the minority group in the state or political subdivision bear the effects of discrimination in such areas as education, employment and health, which hinder their ability to participate effectively in the political process; 6. whether political campaigns have been characterized by overt or subtle racial appeals; 7. the extent to which members of the minority group have been elected to public office in the jurisdiction. Until 2013, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Shelby County v. Holder , Section 5 of the VRA was relied on to require several states and jurisdictions covered under Section 4(b) of the act to obtain prior approval or preclearance for any proposed change to a voting law. In order to be granted preclearance, the state or jurisdiction had the burden of proving that the proposed voting change would have neither the purpose nor effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color, or membership in a language minority group. Moreover, as amended in 2006, the statute expressly provided that its purpose was "to protect the ability of such citizens to elect their preferred candidates of choice." Covered jurisdictions could seek preclearance from either the U.S. Attorney General or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. If preclearance was not granted, the proposed change to election law could not go into effect. In Shelby County v. Holder the Court invalidated Section 4(b) of the VRA. The Court held that the application of the coverage formula to certain states and jurisdictions departed from the principle of equal sovereignty among the states without justification in light of current conditions. Although the Court invalidated only the coverage formula in Section 4(b), by extension, Section 5 was rendered inoperable. As a result of the Court's decision, nine states, and jurisdictions within six additional states, that were previously covered under the formula are no longer subject to the VRA's preclearance requirement. The covered states were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. The six states containing covered jurisdictions were California, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and South Dakota. Shortly after Shelby County was decided, some states that were formerly required under Section 5 to preclear proposed voting changes, including North Carolina, whose law was the subject of a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, enacted new election laws. However, other states not subject to preclearance, including Ohio, whose law was the subject of recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, also enacted changes to their voting laws over the last several years, prompting court challenges. Another relevant law with regard to recent election law challenges, including one regarding the laws of the state of Ohio, is the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA was enacted in 1993 to, among other things, "establish procedures that will increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office; ... [and] to ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained." Relevant to the recent challenge in Ohio, the law forbids states from removing the names of registrants for federal elections from the official voter rolls, which list eligible voters, except under certain circumstances. The law provides an exhaustive list of circumstances that can justify removal from the voter rolls, including a change in the registrant's residence.