6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act & clears a path for Texas to draw Black and Latino voters out of political power
Statement from Brianna Brown, Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project: “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a green light for Texas politicians to draw Black and Latino voters out of power. Let’s be clear about what this is: a deliberate effort to silence the fastest-growing communities in this state before we can fully exercise the political power we’ve built. By gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Court has stripped away the most important legal tool Black and Latino Texans had to fight back against racially discriminatory maps.
“This ruling is a gift to Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have spent more than a decade defending racially discriminatory maps, fighting federal oversight of voting rights, and using every lever of state power to weaken the political voice of Black and Latino Texans. With Section 2 gutted, they will move quickly — and aggressively — to entrench minority rule in a state where the majority of voters are people of color.
“For years, Texas lawmakers have manipulated district lines to silence Black and Latino voters, even as these communities drive nearly all of our state’s population growth. Now the Supreme Court has told them they can keep doing it with even fewer consequences.
“This is what the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act looks like. When the highest court in the country refuses to stop racial discrimination that’s staring it in the face, it’s telling Black and Latino Texans that their voices and their votes don’t matter. TOP rejects that premise, full stop. And we’re not backing down.
“TOP will continue organizing in every corner of this state — block by block, door by door — because no court ruling can erase the power of communities fighting for a Texas that works for all of us, regardless of age, race, faith, gender, or income.”
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About Texas Organizing Project: TOP organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visitorganizetexas.org.