Protect the Right to Vote and Fair Representation

On April 29th, the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling, made along ideological lines, that further diminished the Voting Rights Act (VRA). While the Supreme Court has gradually struck down parts of the VRA over the last couple decades, the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais effectively invalidates Section 2 which sought to protect the voting rights of people of color and block discriminatory electoral rules. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” and many southern states have already begun to do just that, including Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. The Louisiana Governor went so far as to suspend the current primary election even though voting had already begun.

The Callais ruling, and a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a voter-approved new congressional map, have both highlighted the need for strong voting rights legislation and Supreme Court reform:

• Democrats have reintroduced the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and expand the voting rights and safeguards originally installed by the Voting Rights Act.

• The Freedom to Vote Act aims to end partisan gerrymandering, counter voter suppression with ballot access safeguards, and block election denial tactics. This bill has not yet been introduced for this congressional term.

• Lawmakers and experts have floated a number of Supreme Court reforms, including 18-year term limits, court expansion, and limits on the use of the so-called “shadow docket” that the Supreme Court has been using outside of emergencies.

Call your representatives and demand they take action to protect our voting rights and fair representation and stop the Supreme Court from chipping away our constitutional protections.