Voting Rights

“I don’t think it’s going to stop Republicans from drawing racist maps,” Aunna Dennis, executive director of the voting rights group Common Cause, told CNN. “But I think that this empowers those of us pushing back and fighting that.”

Common Cause North Carolina, a group that has mounted legal challenges to the legislature’s attempt to expand gerrymandering and limit Black voting power, applauded the court’s rebuke of Alabama. “Today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is a victory for American democracy and voters everywhere. This decision should serve as a clear warning to North Carolina politicians that racist gerrymandering and attacks on voting rights will not stand,” said Bob Phillips, the group’s executive director.

“We’re very hopeful that what came out in Alabama will bode well for Florida,” said Kathay Feng, vice president of programs for Common Cause, which is among the plaintiffs suing Florida in federal court over the congressional map. Feng said justices clearly signaled that the “Voting Rights Act is not dead.” “Protections against racial gerrymandering are not dead and if the historical record and the facts show themselves to be worthy, the Supreme Court will find there is racial gerrymandering and will order” a remaking of the map, she added.

Today is a day of celebration for all of those who care about freedom and democracy, with the Supreme Court recognizing the vital importance of what remains of the Voting Rights Act to protect Americans from the insidious effects of discrimination.

Voting rights groups say that does not mean voting is easy, and they have been responding to the restrictions with fresh strategies. In Georgia, for instance, Common Cause set up mobile printing stations across the state so voters could comply with new voter registration rules that require an ink signature on a printed form. “It’s only through the work of all these communities and groups on the ground that voters have access,” said Sylvia Albert, the group’s national director of voting and elections. “But doing this post-Shelby, courts are not recognizing the true damage those laws have had.”

Flight attendants use euphemistic doublespeak because, understandably, they want to avoid terms like “hijacking” and "September 11th.” For similar reasons, Jones spoke in broad terms, without directly invoking Trump or January 6th. (There were also other reasons for this, such as Common Cause’s nonpartisan status.) Even so, the implications were clear. At one point, an organizer sitting in the audience stood, using a cane, and gave an impromptu speech, urging listeners to imagine a Supreme Court opinion that enabled legislatures to rig elections at will. “There was a time when I used to think things like that couldn’t happen,” he said. “But then we had January 6th, Roe—these things can happen. They’re happening.”