The Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, in which the court’s six conservative justices eviscerated the Voting Rights Act, raises a fundamental question: What is citizenship without representation?
That’s a question that Black voters here in Louisiana are asking. Black residents make up about a third of Louisiana’s population and only recently secured fair representation at the congressional level with a second congressional seat. But that representation is now at risk of being taken away by a Louisiana Legislature elected under maps that do not reflect that same population.
What is citizenship without representation? That’s a question Black voters here in Louisiana are asking.
Indeed, because of Wednesday’s ruling, the state with the second-highest concentration of Black people could have an all-white congressional delegation that is hostile to any legislation that supports Black voters’ interests. Such a plan appears to already be in motion.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry (no relation) announced Thursday that the state is postponing the state’s congressional primary elections — even though absentee ballots have already been mailed and even though early voting was set to begin tomorrow.
Within minutes of Wednesday’s ruling, officials in Mississippi and Tennessee called for special sessions with the specific purpose of redrawing their state’s legislative and congressional maps to eliminate majority-Black districts.
In a decision written by Justice Samuel Alito striking down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the court ruled that the barriers that limited minority access to the political process during Jim Crow are no longer there. Alito wrote that “things have changed dramatically” in the South and that therefore the relevant section of the Voting Rights Act is no longer needed. Unfortunately, that is not the experience of Louisianans, nor is it the experience of minorities across this country. Race remains the predominant factor in policymaking and party politics, particularly in the South.
Conditions have not changed. The methods and tactics have evolved, but the intent remains the same: to use policy violence to reduce the influence of minorities in the political process — whether that’s through how districts are drawn, how elections are administered or how laws are written and enforced.
To be clear, Wednesday’s ruling didn’t strike down the Voting Rights Act outright. Instead, it weakened it so much that Black voters seeking fair representation will face a much higher burden to prove discrimination in redistricting. The tools that once allowed communities to address racial inequity in representation directly have now been significantly limited. That’s why Justice Elena Kagan, who wrote the dissent and was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is now “all but a dead letter” and that the consequences of Wednesday’s ruling “are likely to be far-reaching and grave.”
Kagan was correct when she wrote that “where that law continues to matter — the States still marked by residential segregation and racially polarized voting — minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process.”
My organization helped initiate this case to expand Black voter representation. Now the Supreme Court has used that same case to restrict it — relying on constitutional amendments that were intended to guarantee full citizenship to Black Americans.
As for postponing the congressional primary elections after some ballots have been sent out, changing the rules in the middle of an election creates confusion, disrupts participation and undermines trust in the process. It makes clear that fairness is not the goal.
This decision risks leaving Black citizens — particularly in the South — in states where their voices are consistently diminished at every level of government. It gives legislatures greater ability to draw districts in ways that dilute voting power, making it far more difficult for minority voters to elect candidates of their choice — even when turnout is high.
Our response, and the response of all like-minded communities and everyone who cares about this country, to the Callais decision must be a robust, record-setting turnout in the elections remaining this year. We did not secure our rights by waiting on the courts. We secured them by organizing, by building and by showing up, again and again, until change came. That is what this moment demands.
Ashley K. Shelton
Ashley K. Shelton is the founder, president and CEO of the Power Coalition, a statewide civic engagement table in Louisiana that builds power in historically disenfranchised communities through organizing, advocacy and civic engagement. Under her leadership, the coalition has educated and engaged over a million voters statewide. Using an integrated voter engagement strategy, the organization focuses on increasing voter participation and supporting base-building organizations in growing long-term capacity.