The Voting Rights Act Must Be Protected, Not Shredded

Statement by NOW President Kim Villanueva

The Louisiana redistricting case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court will determine not only if two majority-Black districts in the state will stand, but the future of the landmark Voting Rights Act itself. The words "Equal Justice Under Law" are literally carved in stone over the entrance to the Court, but this Supreme Court keeps rendering those words hollow.

Our democracy is being hijacked by racist gerrymandering and voter restriction techniques that disproportionately impact young people, the elderly, low-income individuals, and especially people of color-and within each of these communities, women are most harshly affected.

Women are being kept from voting on the issues that matter most to them-like equal pay for equal work, access to reproductive care, gender equality, and racial justice.

If you suppress the voting rights of one part of the population, it's only a matter of time before the next group is targeted. If democracy dies for some of us, it dies for us all. The Voting Rights Act must be protected, not shredded. All eyes are on Louisiana and the fight for fair maps.

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