Even if anyone tried, there would be no way to separate Elias the voting rights lawyer from Elias the political lawyer. “Regardless of who the plaintiff is, protecting civil rights ought to be something that we all strive to do.”Elias said he understands that civil rights groups fear that his involvement hinders their hope for bipartisan support for voting rights — for instance, strengthening the Voting Rights Act. The legal battles against voting restrictions continue to be led by civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Rights Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Advancement Project and others. But Elias’s entrance into voting rights protection is something new. Early on, longtime voting rights activists worried that in Elias’s zeal for helping Democrats in 2016, he would file suits that would later come back to haunt them.

Source: Washington Post August 07, 2016 23:26 UTC