petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to grant ... - Election Law Blog

19or practice, they cannot claim to have been injured by thatstructure or practice.” Id. at 50 n.17.Courts thus use CVAP to evaluate whether a minorityconstituency possesses electoral power in a particulargeographic area. League of United Latin Am. Citizens v.Perry, 548 U.S. 399, 428 (2006) (analyzing Section 2 claimthrough CVAP data); Bartlett v. Strickland, 129 S.Ct.1231, 1249 (2009) (same); Reyes, 586 F.3d 1019; Barnett,141 F.3d 699. This is the only sensible way to approach theinquiry. “Because non-citizens by definition cannot vote,it makes little sense to consider them for the purposesof determining whether the particular remedial schemeproffered by [the minority group] would adequatelyremedy the alleged vote dilution.” Meza v. Galvin, 322 F.Supp. 2d 52, 60 (D. Mass. 2004).Using CVAP instead of total population vindicatesimportant statutory and constitutional principles:Neither the census nor any other policyor practice suggests that Congress wantsnoncitizens to participate in the electoral systemas fully as the concept of virtual representation[of noncitizens by citizens] would allow…. Theright to vote is one of the badges of citizenship.The dignity and very concept of citizenship arediluted if noncitizens are allowed to vote eitherdirectly or by the conferral of additional votingpower on citizens believed to have a communityof interest with the noncitizens.Barnett, 141 F.3d at 704.