WASHINGTON, DC – The League of Women Voters of the US President Dianna Wynn and CEO Celina Stewart issued the following joint statement in response to the US Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case concerning the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  

“In recent months and years, we have watched this Court become less faithful to its constitutional mandate, but today, we have witnessed the final nail in the coffin of its legitimacy. By weakening Section 2 to the point of inoperability, the Court sends a clear message: racial discrimination in redistricting against Black voters and other voters of color is acceptable as long as you don’t say it out loud. This will immediately open the door to racist redistricting; indeed, we have already seen it happening in anticipation of this decision.   

“Section 2 was included in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 alongside Section 5 because Congress knew that racial discrimination in voting was nationwide and not limited to the Deep South. Congress has made clear that a Section 2 claim does not require proof of intent to discriminate because racial discrimination in voting can be accomplished through race-neutral means that conceal racist intent.   

“The US Supreme Court has consistently upheld Section 2 to challenge racial discrimination in redistricting (most recently in Milligan in 2023), reassuring voters that despite its systematic dismantling of voting rights protections in Shelby, Brnovich, and others, the protections against discriminatory districting are here to stay. Today, the Court has abandoned its commitments to the Constitution and to the people it exists to serve. 

“Today’s decision will turn back decades of progress toward securing a multiracial democracy, and the League has a message to the people of this country: your vote matters, no matter what the majority of this Court says. Those in power try to silence you because your voice is powerful. But the people have the power to determine the direction of this democracy. And we will not let this decision, or any other that seeks to threaten the will of the American people, be the last word.”  

In its decision, the Court strikes down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Louisiana’s legislature drew the congressional map with two majority-Black districts in response to a court order in a case brought by Black plaintiffs under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Louisiana now returns to a congressional map with only one majority-Black district in a state with more than one-third Black population.  

The Court then effectively eliminates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by rewriting the rules of a Section 2 vote-dilution claim to ensure plaintiffs cannot succeed in future cases challenging racial discrimination in redistricting. 

The League of Women Voters of the US filed two amicus briefs in the case. To learn more, visit their case page on the Legal Center.