McClellan Statement on Louisiana v. Callais SCOTUS Decision Gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) issued the following statement on the decision reached by the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Louisiana v. Callais gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by making it virtually impossible to enforce:

"When my great-grandfather registered to vote, he was forced to take a literacy test and find three white men to vouch for his character. My father and grandfather were forced to pay poll taxes to register to vote. My family has felt the weight of voter suppression for generations. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) changed that for the better when Section 2 banned such voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race or language.

"While the 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais upholds the constitutionality of Section 2, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court leaves it powerless to address racial discrimination in our electoral system and opens the door for a new wave of unbridled racial gerrymandering. This devastating blow is the latest step in the Roberts Court's campaign to erode key protections of the VRA, beginning with the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. Today's ruling makes it nearly impossible to ensure minority voters have a fair opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice and threatens Black representation across the country. These ongoing attacks pull us farther away from the ideals upon which our nation was founded and undermine generations of progress to achieve fair participation and representation in a government by, of and for the people.

"I've fought to expand voting rights for decades, championing legislation in 2021 that made Virginia the first state in the South to adopt its own Voting Rights Act. Now, we must continue to stand against new challenges to these efforts, and Congress must act to restore the VRA protections gutted since Shelby County v. Holder.

"I condemn all efforts to roll back the progress we have made over the past century. These attacks cannot go unchecked. I'll continue working alongside lawmakers, advocates and public officials to pursue all avenues to strengthen and defend the protections that allowed millions of people, including my family, to exercise their constitutional right to participate in our democracy."