Why Counting Votes Doesn\u27t Add Up: A Response to Cox and Miles\u27 \u3cem\u3eJudging the Voting Rights Act\u3c/em\u3e

In Judging the Voting Rights Act, Professors Adam B. Cox and Thomas J. Miles report that judges are more likely to find liability under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when they are African American, appointed by a Democratic president, or sit on an appellate panel with a judge who is African American or a Democratic appointee. Cox and Miles posit that their findings “contrast” and “cast doubt” on much of the “conventional wisdom” about the Voting Rights Act, by which they mean the core findings we reported in Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Since 1982, and a related study by one of us, Not Like the South?: Regional Variation and Political Participation Through the Lens of Section 2