WASHINGTON, D.C. – Elias Law Group Partner Abha Khanna released the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
“Today’s decision is a devastating blow to American democracy that threatens to unwind decades of hard-won progress for minority voting rights. For many years, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been the most important federal safeguard against voting laws that diminish the political power of minority voters, including congressional maps that discriminate against Black, Latino, and other minority communities. With today’s decision, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has rolled back protections for minority voters and representatives across the country, from U.S. Congress to city councils. In the months and years to come, millions of minority voters could be silenced and pushed out of the political process. Not since the events leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 have minority voters faced this much peril in the fight for basic political equality. Shame on the Republicans who are now cheering for the return to an era when Black voters in the Deep South had no voice in Congress.
“While today’s decision fundamentally changes the legal landscape, it does not change our commitment to fighting for fair representation. Elias Law Group will use every tool available under federal and state law to protect minority voters and defend congressional districts that give communities of color a meaningful voice in our government. We will challenge every unlawful electoral map, oppose every attempt to crack and pack minority communities, and work relentlessly to ensure that no Republican-controlled legislature is able to erase minority representation from their congressional delegation without a fight. Republican state legislatures have been preparing for this outcome for many months. So have we.”
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