Who Gets to Vote?

Why It Matters

If federal data‑collection and proof‑of‑citizenship mandates proceed, millions of eligible voters could be barred from the polls, reshaping electoral outcomes and undermining the Constitution’s guarantee of state‑controlled elections.

Key Takeaways

• Non‑citizen voting claims lack evidence; citizen turnout is low
• DOJ seeks unredacted voter rolls, prompting state resistance and lawsuits
• New federal ID requirements risk disenfranchising millions, especially women
• Historical voter suppression tactics echo in modern documentation demands
• ACLU litigates to protect ballot access and state‑run election authority

Summary

The Stanford Legal podcast episode “Who Gets to Vote?” features ACLU voting‑rights director Sophia Lynn Leaken discussing the myth of non‑citizen voting and the broader challenges to ballot access in the United States.

Leaken explains three categories of voting‑rights issues—participation, ballot counting, and aggregation—and highlights recent federal actions that threaten them. The Department of Justice has sued more than 30 states for refusing to provide unredacted voter‑roll data, prompting the ACLU to intervene in roughly 25 cases to protect sensitive personal information. Simultaneously, executive orders are pushing a “proof‑of‑citizenship” requirement for registration, a rule that legal scholars say would disenfranchise millions, especially low‑income and married women.

Historical parallels were drawn to 19th‑century poll taxes and literacy tests, and to the 2000 Florida felon‑purge that mistakenly removed thousands of voters. Leaken cited a Kansas case where a passport was rejected as proof of citizenship, and a New Hampshire incident where an attorney was told to produce naturalization papers despite having a valid passport, illustrating how bureaucratic hurdles can suppress votes.

The litigation underscores a shift from state‑run election administration toward federal control, raising constitutional concerns and amplifying the risk of voter suppression. Protecting ballot access and encouraging higher citizen turnout remain essential to preserving democratic legitimacy.

Original Description

Sophia Lin Lakin, JD ’11 (MS ’04, BA ’02), director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, challenges the stated premises behind many current voting restrictions, including claims about widespread non-citizen voting. “If we’re worried about the integrity of our elections,” she tells Stanford Law professor and host Pam Karlan, “we should be worried about making sure that more people are participating in our elections and not chasing a fantasy.”

That concern—how long-standing efforts to restrict voting access can make it harder for eligible voters to participate—runs through the episode, which was recorded shortly before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais. In a 6–3 ruling, the Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, which had created a second majority-Black district, holding that the map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The decision could make it harder to use Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to challenge maps that dilute minority voting strength.

Lakin and Karlan discuss what is at stake when access to the ballot becomes harder and the rules for translating votes into political power begin to shift. Their conversation focuses on proof-of-citizenship requirements, mail ballots, voter roll purges, and redistricting battles, offering a timely look at the legal fights shaping who can vote, whose ballots count, and whether communities can elect representatives of their choice.

Links:

• Sophia Lin Lakin ＞＞＞ ACLU page (https://www.aclu.org/bios/sophia-lin-lakin)

Connect:

• Episode Transcripts ＞＞＞ Stanford Legal Podcast Website (https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-legal-podcast/)

• Stanford Legal Podcast ＞＞＞ LinkedIn Page (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/stanfordlegal/)

• Rich Ford ＞＞＞  Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/our_ford)

• Pam Karlan ＞＞＞ Stanford Law School Page (https://law.stanford.edu/pamela-s-karlan/)

• Stanford Law School ＞＞＞ Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/stanfordlaw)

• Stanford Lawyer Magazine ＞＞＞ Twitter/X (https://twitter.com/@stanfordlawmag)

(00:00:00) The Three Buckets of Voting Rights 

(00:02:35) Voter Roll Surveillance 

(00:06:17) The Non-Citizen Voting Myth and the Dangers of Faulty Databases 

(00:10:23) Citizenship Documentation Requirements 

(00:16:19) Mail Voting Rules and the Materiality Provision 

(00:21:00) Section Two of the Voting Rights Act and Redistricting Battles 

(00:28:51) Race, Politics, and the Future of Fair Maps 

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