Voting access
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 — most consequential voting-rights legislation in US history. Black voter registration in covered states doubled within five years.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
VRA banned literacy tests and authorized federal voting registrars; Black voter registration in covered Southern states rose from ~29% (1965) to ~62% (1969).
congress.gov ↗
Signed VRA Amendments 1975 expanding language-minority protections. Continued federal voting-rights enforcement.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Ford signed VRA extension expanding protections to language minorities.
congress.gov ↗
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter). VRA enforcement continued. Strong voting-access record.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Motor Voter Act required states to offer voter registration at motor-vehicle offices and welfare agencies; expanded voter rolls by millions.
congress.gov ↗
Continued VRA enforcement. Proposed comprehensive election reform (failed). Universal voter registration legislation failed.
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- good·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Carter proposed universal voter registration but legislation failed; continued strong VRA enforcement via DOJ.
jimmycarterlibrary.gov ↗
1948 Democratic platform civil rights plank; supported anti-poll-tax legislation; EO 9981 desegregating military advanced voting-rights agenda. Dixiecrat walkout testified to commitment.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1948 platform's civil rights plank caused Mississippi and Alabama delegations to walk out and form Dixiecrat Party — testifying to the substance of Truman's civil-rights commitments.
1948 Democratic Platform civil rights plank; Strom Thurmond Dixiecrat walkout
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act failed (filibuster). DOJ Civil Rights Division voting enforcement restored. Mixed result.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Major voting-rights expansion legislation failed in Senate (filibuster); DOJ Civil Rights Division voting-rights enforcement returned to active levels post-Trump.
congress.gov ↗
Voting Rights Act extension 1970. 26th Amendment ratified 1971 (voting age 18) — Nixon administration supported. No major voting-rights regression. Calibration v1.1 revision: 7/2→6/3 per cross-president-rankings.md — Southern Strategy demographic-targeting harm dimension partially offsets VRA extension good.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
VRA extension and 26th Amendment both occurred under Nixon administration; 26th Amendment extended voting franchise to 18-year-olds.
congress.gov ↗
Civil Rights Act of 1957 created Civil Rights Division at DOJ and Civil Rights Commission. Civil Rights Act of 1960 authorized federal voting registrars in limited cases. Both significantly weakened in conference.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
First civil rights legislation since Reconstruction; both Acts were substantially weakened in Senate conference but established federal voting-rights enforcement infrastructure.
congress.gov ↗
24th Amendment proposed and ratified during Kennedy term (banning poll tax in federal elections; ratified January 1964 under LBJ). DOJ Civil Rights Division voting enforcement initially weak.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
24th Amendment proposed during Kennedy term banned poll taxes in federal elections; ratification completed shortly after his death.
archives.gov ↗
Shelby County v. Holder (2013) gutted VRA preclearance. DOJ Civil Rights Division enforcement strong. Voter ID expansion in states. Mixed pattern.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Shelby County struck down VRA preclearance formula; numerous states subsequently passed restrictive voting laws; Obama DOJ unable to block under post-Shelby framework.
supreme.justia.com ↗
VRA Amendments of 1982 strengthened sections 2 and 5 (passed under Reagan, signed somewhat reluctantly). DOJ Civil Rights Division voting-rights enforcement weakened. Voter-suppression tactics emerging at state level.
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- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
1982 VRA Amendments strengthened the law's protections against discriminatory results (not just intent); Reagan signed under congressional pressure after initial reservations.
congress.gov ↗
Vetoed Motor Voter (1992; Clinton signed 1993). VRA continued enforcement. Modest pattern.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Bush vetoed National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter) in 1992; Clinton signed in 1993.
congress.gov ↗
Help America Vote Act 2002 (post-2000 Florida response) — improved voting infrastructure. BUT: voter ID push, US Attorney politicization of voting prosecutions, voter purges expanded.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
HAVA improved voting infrastructure but Bush DOJ subsequently pursued voter-fraud prosecutions disproportionately and politicized US Attorney offices.
congress.gov ↗
Failed to advance Black voting rights in the South; coalition required Southern Democratic acquiescence. Anti-poll-tax legislation blocked in part because FDR didn't push it. Pre-VRA baseline.
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- harm·Tier 2·Academic·Unverified
FDR repeatedly declined to support anti-lynching legislation or aggressive voting-rights enforcement, preserving the alliance with Southern Democratic Senators who controlled key committees.
Anti-Lynching Bill blockage history; Sitkoff, 'A New Deal for Blacks' (1978); standard scholarship
DOJ Civil Rights Division voting enforcement substantially reduced. SAVE Act voting framework. Voter-roll purge support. Continued voting-access restriction posture.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
DOJ Civil Rights Division voting enforcement substantially reduced; SAVE Act and similar voter-ID frameworks supported federally; pattern of voting-access restriction.
justice.gov ↗
Big Lie about 2020 election fraud. Pressured Georgia SoS Raffensperger to 'find 11,780 votes' (January 2, 2021). Voter fraud commission. Attacked mail-in voting. Pattern of voting-access attacks.
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- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Trump's January 2, 2021 call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State to 'find 11,780 votes' was recorded and produced 2023 Georgia indictment; pattern of post-election voter-access attacks defined T1.
Trump-Raffensperger call January 2, 2021 (recording released); Trump v. Raffensperger Georgia indictment 2023