Voter suppression in the US has a long history. After Reconstruction, Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and violence to keep Black people from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed many of those tactics and required states with histories of discrimination to get federal approval before changing voting rules.
The Supreme Court weakened that law in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), ending the preclearance requirement. States then passed stricter voter ID laws, purged voter rolls and closed polling places, often in Black and Latino areas. In Louisiana v. Callais (2026), the Court further narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, making it much harder to challenge maps that dilute the votes of people of color.
Modern suppression is often framed as fighting fraud, even though studies find voter fraud is extremely rare. Felony disenfranchisement, long lines and limits on mail voting also reduce turnout among voters of color.