Letter from Lani Guinier to Mr. Tony Harrison RE: Memorandum on restrictive registration barriers

Policy Advocacy
April 13, 1984

Letter from Lani Guinier to Mr. Tony Harrison RE: Memorandum on restrictive registration barriers preview

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  • Legal Department General, Lani Guinier Correspondence. Letter from Lani Guinier to Mr. Tony Harrison RE: Memorandum on restrictive registration barriers, 1984. 55fa7e0c-e692-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/b12a4995-a996-48a2-af0e-d1a85004e9dd/letter-from-lani-guinier-to-mr-tony-harrison-re-memorandum-on-restrictive-registration-barriers. Accessed July 09, 2025.

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    Lesa,E&renseH.
April 13, 1984

IE. lbny Harrison
Denpq:atic National Ccrmtittee
1625 }tassactrusetts Arzentre, N.W.
!{ashingEon, D.C. 20036

Dear Tbny:

I enclose a @Fy of a renoran&.m on restrictive'registr:aLion ba:ria:s
w"ith three agpendices. Se\reral renedial a6rproadtes should be onsidered.
As you lclcn'1, and as ttre renprandun nenLions, we are pu::suing a litiga-
tion sua@y to challenge, on a stats.ride basj-s, tJ:e state lars and
plocedrires ttrat rrake it brrrdensore and, scnetines inpossiJrle for blacks,
especially in n-rral al€as, to legister to r,ote. In additjon, we are
prepared to help dnft a bill that rr,ou-Id ban restrictirre reg:istration
pr:acUices for feds:al elections. At least t torc opEions mre to rnj.:rd inF
ne*lately. Gre is to arend tlre Voti-ng Rights Act, (42 U.S.C. S1973dd-2)
to pennit post card registration in all federal elections. Secondly, I
unde:stand kpresentatives S\rift. and. Hau,kins have already intr.oduced a
bilI (H.n. 4367) tl.at worrld set aside si:<ty million dolla::s for regisU:a-
tion to be paid to states that irrprorie general :egist-ration oS4nrturities
or insLiU,rte door to door registraLion caryaigns. Ttre biIL, introdtred
I{crrcnber 10, 1983, anends the ftsderal ElecLion Canpaip Act..

Witkr regard to your question about ttre state of the reord on the discrj:rr
inatory effect. of the rnajoriQz rrcte/seond prinary requjJenEnt, I tvould
refer you to several soures that in my opinion denonstrate tlre require
nEnt's adrre::se furpact sr black political participation. First, the
DeparErent of Jr"stice has, in its I8 year enforcenent of SecLion 5 of the
tlcting Ri$lts Act, e)rtensive erperience w'ith rerriewing the opa:ation of
the rnajority \rote regr:irenent in tlre Section 5 overed jurisdictions,
vtLich, in addition to Oklatrqna and Arlcansas, are ttre only states that
use sudr a nrle and r.:.se it only for nqrui:ration hy a political partlr, i.e.,
in prirm:r7 elections. In fact, beti/r,een 1975 and 1980, 56 objec'tions we:re
interposed by tlre Justice Departnent to tire rnajority \Dte reguir€nent.
Grly annexaLions and changes to at-large elecLions were tlre sulcject of
rore objections.

Second, the case laur, inchding seve:lal Srprene Court, opinions, oonsistently
recognizes the discrimirntory inpact of a rnajority vote requirenent in a
jr:ri-sdiction qrtrere rrcting is r:acially polarized. (See, for exanple, Wtrite
v. Bgrester, 412 U.S. 755 (1973), Citv of Port ar*n:r v. tlrited States, 103
s. eE336-it sss (reg2), *ra
opinion, Jan. 27, L98$ at 37-38, coFlt attadrcd.)

Contributians are deductible lm U.S. income tau yurposes

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Itlr. lbry Eia:riscn -2- Ap,ril 13, 1984

Finally, the leqislative Lr-istory of the 1982 aren&rent*s to the tlcting
Rig1ts-iEt, :eflects the finding bV Ocngrress tLrat tlre najority \rcte re-
Erir"neo,t is a roEing proce&:re that tends to discriminate aga.inst
mirority rrctere. Ftrr exarple, at Pa€e 29 of the Senate Eport, the Senate
fidiciairy 6rrmttte includes ttre rmjority vote rrequirenent in a list of
prpcedrues t}at epically entrancr= ttre opportunity for $,tlite \rotel:s to
hiscri*inate and infr:liC the opporer-rnity for blad< rrrts:s to elect candi-
dates of their droice.

Given tlre eviderce that js arrailable already, it may sesn urEcessa:rf to
hold rore hearjngs on tftis issrre. I do not tfljJlk, hourerrer, that it t^,ott1d

be easy to ggt tfie congfess to act on this issue t]ris session. lttolefore,
if you are talking r.eafisUicaUy about introducing leg:islation'ttrat trculd
bar-r:-se of gre rnajority rloee requiaerent at least for aIL fedenl elections,
it nalr nrake sense-to fpta hearings in ttre onte>cE, of a specific piece of
Iegislation hifrich, thou*r it nay ro't, pass, wor:Id at least focr:s ontinued
attenLion on the dinensi"qrs of the prcblern-

Please let rne lssr, if you have any fr:rttrer qr:estions.

Sirrsrely,
./)
Ia.)
(Dictated, but not read)
tS/x

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