LDF Commemorates 61st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act Amid Repeated Assaults on Voting Rights by the Trump Administration

Sixty-one years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 into law. The VRA was the crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement, ending discriminatory practices used to prevent Black voters from exercising their right to vote, creating tools to remedy violations of the right to vote, and establishing critical "preclearance" requirements that stopped voting discrimination before it occurred. In recent years, the safeguards created by that visionary law have been severely undermined by the courts and by Congress' failure to authorize any new voting rights protections.

On the 61st anniversary of the VRA, Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, issued the following statement:

"Until 1965, a multiracial democracy did not exist in the United States. The enactment of the VRA meant that - for the very first time in our history - Black people were full and equal citizens, endowed with the same sacrosanct right to participate in our democracy as each of our neighbors.

"The Legal Defense Fund has been at the forefront of the fight for equal voting rights for 86 years. And now, the legacy of our work, of the VRA, and of the countless souls that marched, cried out, and battled for justice at the ballot box, is under direct attack. From the moment President Trump entered the political arena, he's been trying to undermine democracy. His administration has been relentless in spreading disinformation targeting mail-in-voting, weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to seize state voters rolls and threaten efforts to register voters, persecuting elections officials, and seeking to force restrictive voting measures through Congress and eliminate federal efforts to support fair election administration.

"We have learned through hard-won experience that a tyrant will always attempt to manipulate elections for their personal gain. This year's VRA anniversary is not a time to reflect, it's a time for action."

"We must stand up to a Supreme Court that has decimated the VRA time and time again with rulings in Shelby County and Brnovich. And most recently, the disastrous Callais decision opened the door for a spate of discriminatory redistricting machinations that have the potential to set Black representation back decades.

"We must hold the line. We must honor the courage and conviction of the advocates that came before us. We must organize, mobilize, and energize the people that this administration continuously targets. We must demand accountability from elected officials to fulfill the promise of a truly representative government. Finally, we call upon Congress to pass an expanded and robust John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that permanently protects the right to vote from racial discrimination and partisan manipulation."

Visit here to learn more about the VRA.

Learn more about LDF's work to oppose the Trump administration's efforts to impede democracy here.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF)is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.