One
of
the
crown
gems
of
the
civil
rights
movement
is
the
the
Voting
Rights
Act
of
1965.
While
many
take
it
for
granted,
the
right
to
vote
was
a
matter
of
life
and
death
for
generations
of
Americans.
Not
just
because
the
ballot
box
determined
who
would
be
in
office,
but
because
the
simple
intent
to
vote
was
enough
justification
for
many
Black
Americans
to
be
brutally
beaten
or
killed.
Having
been
on
its
last
legs
for
years,
the
Supreme
Court
confined
it
to
the
history
books
with
Louisiana
v.
Callais.
In
it,
Alito
and
the
other
Republicans
on
the
Court
decided
that
Section
2
of
the
Voting
Rights
Act
should
only
kick
in
if
litigants
can
prove
intentional
racial
discrimination
as
the
animus
behind
gerrymandering
with
disproportionately
racial
effects.
Now,
unless
the
gerrymanderers
pull
a
Hegseth
and
leak
the
battle
plans
on
Signal,
any
justification
—
including
protecting
incumbents
—
is
sufficient
to
shield
against
being
taken
to
court
for
voting
rights
dilution.
And
when
the
right
to
vote
is
in
this
much
jeopardy,
its
time
to
bring
out
the
big
guns:
Gerrymandering
isn’t
the
only
way
that
the
right
to
vote
is
being
attacked.
A
key
component
of
voting
is
being
able
to
do
so
without
someone
breathing
over
your
shoulder.
Without
privacy,
voters
may
be
swayed
to
vote
differently
or
fail
to
cast
a
ballot
at
all.
Jamie
Ding
has
been
on
the
side
of
voting
right
privacy,
and
it
is
a
boon
to
have
him.
New
Jersey
Globe
has
coverage:
Jamie
Ding,
the
reigning
champion
on
Jeopardy!,
is
now
at
the
center
of
a
federal
court
fight
on
voter
privacy,
joining
a
group
of
intervenors
seeking
to
block
the
U.S.
Department
of
Justice
from
obtaining
the
state’s
complete
voter
registration
list,
a
database
that
includes
sensitive
personal
information
on
over
6.6
million
New
Jerseyans.At
issue
is
an
extraordinary
demand
from
the
Trump
administration,
which
has
asked
a
federal
judge
to
compel
Lt.
Gov.
Dale
Caldwell,
the
Secretary
of
State,
to
turn
over
its
entire
statewide
voter
file
—
an
unredacted
database
containing
voters’
names,
addresses,
dates
of
birth,
and
in
some
cases
partial
Social
Security
and
driver’s
license
numbers
—
arguing
the
information
is
necessary
to
review
the
state’s
compliance
with
federal
election
laws.
There
has
to
be
a
less
intrusive
way
of
reviewing
the
state’s
compliance.
Given
the
administration’s
habit
of
harassing
their
political
opposition
over
the
dumbest
of
shit,
it
makes
sense
that
this
data
should
be
kept
out
of
the
hands
of
a
vindictive
and
stupid
government.
It
is
only
a
matter
of
time
before
some
federal
employee
feeds
the
data
into
Grok
and
causes
a
data
breach
so
widespread
that
Citizens
Bank
would
blush
at.
Let’s
hope
that
voting
privacy
doesn’t
go
the
way
of
the
Voting
Rights
Act.
Trump
Wants
N.J.
To
Turn
Over
Full
Voter
Registration
Data.
One
Of
The
People
Fighting
Him
In
Court
Is
Jeopardy
Champion
Jamie
Ding
[New
Jersey
Globe]
Earlier:
Seton
Hall
Law
Student
Lands
In
Jeopardy!’s
Top
Five
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.