JCPAR Voting Rights

VOTING RIGHTS & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Carrying the Torch Forward: Honoring Selma and the Continuing Fight for Voting Rights Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell “Precious. Almost sacred.” That is how John Lewis described the right to vote. He called it “the most powerful nonviolent tool in a democratic society,” and he was willing to give everything to defend it.

For those of us who grew up in Selma, Alabama, those words carry a special weight. They are our lived history—a reminder of the generations who fought, bled, and even died for the right to participate equally in our democracy.

I came of age in the shadow of the Civil Rights Movement, in a place where the struggle for voting rights was not confined to the history books but etched into the streets, the churches, and the very air we breathed. Selma was more than my hometown. It was where ordinary Americans—teachers, parishioners, farmers, students—became foot soldiers in an extraordinary fight to ensure that the promise of this nation extended to all its citizens.

On March 7, 1965, that promise was tested on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when peaceful marchers, led by a young John Lewis, were met with brutality that shocked the conscience of the nation. The images of Bloody Sunday broadcast across America exposed the cruelty of discrimination in the Jim Crow South and galvanized public support for change. Within months, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark law that transformed our democracy by prohibiting racial discrimination in voting and establishing federal oversight to protect vulnerable communities.

For decades, the Voting Rights Act stood as one of the most effective civil rights laws in America. It was reauthorized time and again with overwhelming bipartisan support, reflecting a shared understanding

32

that the right to vote is foundational to all other rights. The law’s preclearance provision—requiring jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to obtain federal approval before changing voting laws—served as a critical safeguard against voter suppression.

But history has taught us that progress is neither linear nor guaranteed.

In 2013, the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder dismantled the heart of the Voting Rights Act by invalidating the formula used to determine which jurisdictions were subject to preclearance. In doing so, the Court effectively removed the federal government’s ability to proactively prevent discriminatory voting practices. The consequences were swift and far-reaching.

Across the country, states enacted a wave of restrictive voting laws—closing polling places in minority communities, purging voter rolls, limiting early voting, and imposing burdensome identification requirements. These measures have disproportionately impacted Black and minority voters, echoing the very barriers the Voting Rights Act was designed to eliminate.

Now, with the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Louisiana v.

Callais, the assault on voting rights and fair representation has entered a dangerous new chapter. The Court’s ruling threatens to further weaken the ability of Black voters to challenge discriminatory redistricting plans under the Voting Rights Act, emboldening states with long histories of voter suppression to once again manipulate district lines to dilute minority political power.

We are already seeing the consequences unfold across the South.

In Alabama and other Southern states, lawmakers are rushing to redraw congressional maps in ways designed to undermine hardfought gains in Black representation. These tactics are part of a

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

coordinated effort to silence communities whose voices have too often been excluded from the halls of power.

We in Alabama are no strangers to this fight. After the 2020 Census, Alabama lawmakers initially enacted a congressional map that denied Black voters a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, despite Black Alabamians making up nearly one third of the state’s electorate. After years of litigation, the courts ordered Alabama to create a second opportunity district where Black voters could fairly participate in the political process. That victory reaffirmed that our democracy works best when every voice is heard.

Now, those gains are once again under attack.

This moment demands clarity and courage. The right to vote remains under threat, and the protections secured by generations of Freedom Fighters are being systematically weakened by courts and legislatures alike.

That is why I continue to lead the fight in Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Named in honor of a man who dedicated his life to the cause of justice, this legislation would restore and modernize the protections of the Voting Rights Act. It would establish a new coverage formula to determine which jurisdictions must preclear changes to their voting laws and strengthen the federal government’s ability to stop discriminatory practices before they can disenfranchise voters. Now, with input from voters and legal experts alike, it will be updated to address these new attacks on fair representation.

The challenges we face today may look different from those of 1965, but they are no less profound. Voter suppression has evolved, adopting new forms that can be harder to detect but are equally damaging. The principle at stake, however, remains unchanged: every eligible American deserves an equal opportunity to participate in our democracy and to have their vote count equally.

As the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation marks its 50th anniversary, we are reminded of the enduring importance of its

mission—to advance the global Black community by developing leaders, informing policy, and educating the public. This milestone is both a celebration and a call to action. It is an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come, while recognizing how much work remains.

The story of voting rights in America is still being written. Each generation must do its part to carry the torch forward and to ensure that the sacrifices of the past are not in vain. For those of us who grew up in Selma, that responsibility feels especially personal. We walk in the footsteps of giants, guided by their example and inspired by their courage.

John Lewis often reminded us that “freedom is not a state; it is an act.” It is something we must continuously strive to achieve, defend, and expand.

If we are to truly honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the work of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation over the past fifty years, we must recommit ourselves to the fight for voting rights. Passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is a necessary step in that journey. It is a reaffirmation of our values and a declaration that, even in the face of new challenges, we will not turn back.

The bridge in Selma still stands. So, too, does the call to action it represents.

Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell is in her eighth term representing Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.

She is one of the first women elected to Congress from Alabama in her own right and the first Black woman to ever serve in the Alabama Congressional delegation. Congresswoman Sewell sits on the exclusive House Ways and Means Committee, bringing her more than 15 years of experience as a securities and public finance attorney. In the 119th Congress, she was selected to serve as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, making her the first Black woman to hold a leadership role since the Committee was established in 1789.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 33

We Are the Builders: A Vision for Democracy’s Next 250 Years LaTosha Brown In 1998, I ran for the Alabama State Board of Education and lost by fewer than 131 votes. On certification day, I learned that 800 ballots had been found in a county safe, uncounted, after the deadline had passed. There was no remedy. Four years later I ran for State Representative. Republican voters who had voted in their own party’s primary crossed over in my runoff to defeat my candidacy. The violation was proven. The Alabama Supreme Court issued a favorable ruling. The wrong stood anyway.

Those experiences planted a question that decades of organizing have only sharpened: we have built a democracy without a guardian.

And we cannot organize our way out of that structural reality.

I co-founded Black Voters Matter Fund because organized Black political power is foundational to any democracy worth defending.

We have registered hundreds of thousands of voters, built movement infrastructure across the South, and fought suppression in courtrooms and in the streets. Black Voters Matter and voting rights advocates across this country have been saying this publicly for years: we cannot organize at the speed or scale that voter suppression is advancing. The dismantling outpaces the building. We are losing ground that took generations to gain.

Louisiana v. Callais, now before the Supreme Court, threatens to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last major protection against racial vote dilution.

A ruling against Black voters could eliminate majorityBlack congressional districts across the South, directly diminishing the Congressional Black Caucus and Black political representation for a generation.

34

We must block every harmful bill and policy designed to erode Black political power, including but not limited to the SAVE Act. We must organize, litigate, and mobilize in this present moment. But this moment also demands something more. Block and build. Both are necessary.

We are living through a period of great unraveling. The Voting Rights Act, won in blood on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge where I grew up, has been methodically stripped: Shelby County gutted preclearance, Brnovich constrained Section 2, Callais now threatens its existence.

The Act was always the floor, never the ceiling. Even fully restored, it is not enough. On the eve of our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are being called to something different: not only to defend what we have, but to build what we have never had.

Those who bled and marched did not do it to protect a floor. They did it so we could build a house.

For years, I have been testing this idea with legal scholars, policymakers, and communities across the country. The response has been consistent: people want something more durable, with real power to monitor, track, and enforce democratic rights in a way that does not evaporate with each election. I am formally proposing the Department of Democracy: a permanent, cabinet-level institution whose sole purpose is protecting democratic rights from any threat, including from the government itself. It would operate on multiple levels. At the federal level, a Congressional Democracy Office would monitor all legislation for its democratic rights impact and score every state on voting rights records. An independent enforcement commission, with members appointed across all three branches of government so no single party can capture it, would investigate violations and bring enforcement actions. A specialized Voting Rights Tribunal of life-tenured federal judges would provide binding legal enforcement before elections are decided, not years after.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

Critically, the development of this institution would itself be a democratic act. Communities most harmed by voting rights erosion would have a direct role in shaping it through town halls, civic assemblies, and state-level pilot programs. We would practice democracy in the very process of proposing it. The Department of Democracy is not handed down to the people. It is built by them.

New institutions take time. The Voting Rights Act took a decade of movement before Congress acted. The Department of Democracy is a long game and an organizing framework that lifts people’s vision toward what is structurally possible. I am developing a full framework proposal that invites scholars, legal experts, and communities into the design process. If we do not begin building now, we will spend the next fifty years fighting the same battles without a permanent guardian to hold the line.

The Congressional Black Caucus has been the conscience of Congress for fifty years. On this anniversary, I am asking us to also be its architects, of the democratic infrastructure this country has never built but has always needed. We must protect what protects us in this moment. But we cannot stop there. My grandmother used to say: what the devil meant for harm, God will use for your good. The forces working to dismantle our democracy have clarified something essential. It is time to stop being defined by what is being taken and start building what we have always deserved. Ascend. Create.

Determine for ourselves what this democracy becomes.

LaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund and founder of the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium. A daughter of Selma, Alabama, she has spent more than thirty years organizing for voting rights, including work on federal legislation, Senate testimony, state and federal lawsuits, and direct action at the United States Capitol. She developed the Department of Democracy concept as a Senior Practice Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 35

Joy Lives in the In-Between Eric Holder Throughout my life in public service, and especially in the long struggle for voting rights, I have learned that progress is rarely ever a straight line. It curves, it stalls, and at times it breaks. There are moments when what we believed was settled law is suddenly unsettled again, when rights we thought secure were placed back on the negotiating table. In those moments, grief is inevitable. But grief has never been the whole story.

There is also joy. Not the fleeting kind, but the kind that comes from resistance and insisting that our democracy must live up to its highest ideals. There is also gratitude for those who fought the fight before us, those who have come alongside now, and those who will carry the fight forward.

Voting rights have expanded and contracted as the political pendulum has swung from moments of moral clarity to moments of moral cowardice. As we commemorate fifty years of The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, sixty-plus years of the Voting Rights Act, and 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, let’s reflect not just what we have gained and lost, but also on how we live in this moment: the in-between.

In his early months back in office, President Trump systematically purged thousands of career DOJ staff and replaced them with MAGA loyalists. He then perverted the principles of “equal justice under law” to weaponize the Fourteenth Amendment against the very communities it was designed to protect. Trump’s strategy is division: “us” vs. “them.” Everyone loses in this scenario.

Eroding the rule of law and politicizing the DOJ created an environment where a federal immigration officer could fatally shoot Minnesota residents Alex Pretti and Renee Good and the DOJ could forego

36

investigating their deaths as civil rights cases. Yet, the moment we find ourselves in did not begin with Trump.

In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act that required jurisdictions with histories of racist voter suppression to obtain federal preclearance before changing any voting rule. Since then, states like Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri have closed polling locations, imposed restrictive voting ID laws, and gerrymandered maps to dilute minority votes. These state actions set the stage for Louisiana v. Callais, where the Court ruled that states may not consider the impact of race in drawing district lines even to prevent minority voters from being unfairly shut out. That decision further constricted one of the VRA’s last remaining enforcement tools. The result: compounding grief from rights that exist on paper but not in practice.

Joyful, disciplined resistance is the antidote to the grief many feel now. It’s what Congressman John Lewis referred to as “good trouble.”

In his farewell letter, Lewis reminded us that “[d]emocracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part.” From hymns like “This Little Light of Mine” sung on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 to BLM chants echoed through cities across the world in 2020, joy has always fueled justice. Even in the hardest moments, the movement made room for laughter, music, and fellowship because joy sustains what outrage alone cannot.

Recent victories affirm this truth. In California, voters passed Proposition 50. In Missouri, they overwhelmingly opposed Trumpbacked gerrymanders. In November 2025, Democrats including Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, and Zohran Mamdani won hardfought races in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City. Each victory emerged from struggle; each carried with it a quiet, sustaining joy.

My late sister-in-law Vivian Malone Jones embodied that joy. In 1963, she walked past jeering crowds and armed officers to integrate the

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

University of Alabama and later became its first Black graduate.

Vivian described it as a “privilege” to represent “all those who fought for simple justice” and the “end to legal segregation in the American South.” Her calm resolve was its own kind of joy. Her actions made clear that progress was and is still possible.

My gratitude deepens during moments like these, because when our systems fail, we have an opportunity not only to rebuild but to reimagine them. That opportunity carries responsibility. If you need inspiration, look back to pioneers who prevailed against billy clubs, bombings, and brutality. If you need hope, look within and look around. Rising leaders like Vanita Gupta and initiatives like NYU Law’s Center for Law and Public Trust are building the scaffolding we will need for the long fight ahead. They are studying how to avoid this predicament in 2029, zealously advocating for those at the margins now, and training the next generation to meet the moment with courage and practical tools.

Joyful, disciplined resistance is the antidote to the grief many feel now.

There is enough work for us all. Ask yourself: what can you do in your sphere of influence to bring urgency and action, and more importantly imagination, levity, and radical joy to the fight? Voting is the baseline, not the ceiling. It will take a galvanized public to defeat the angry mob that wants to roll back everything we have accomplished since the CBCF’s founding.

Grief, joy, and gratitude are not stages we move through once and leave behind. They are a cycle—repeating, overlapping, and shaping our work across generations. Grief sharpens our awareness of what is at stake. Joy sustains us when the work is hard. Gratitude anchors us, reminding us that we are neither the first nor the last to face these challenges.

In the in-between, apathy is not an option. Let the grief of this moment propel us forward, as we choose joy and demonstrate gratitude for the opportunity we have right now.

Eric Holder advises clients through Covington & Burling LLP on complex investigations and litigation, including matters involving significant regulatory enforcement and reputational issues. A former partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009, he rejoined the firm after serving as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States. During his tenure from 2009 to 2015, Mr. Holder was the third longest-serving Attorney General in U.S. history and the first African American to hold the office. Mr. Holder has more than thirty years of government service, having served under Presidents Obama, Clinton, and Reagan, and is internationally recognized for his leadership.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 37

America Has Failed to Learn a Critical Lesson—Again Todd A. Cox In The Space Traders, the final story in civil rights attorney and legal scholar Derrick Bell’s Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism, extraterrestrials land on earth and offer to relieve the United States of its most pressing concerns—environmental destruction, national debt, dwindling resources—in exchange for its entire population of Black people. The compromises and disaffection that lead to that moment are as disconcerting as its bleak conclusion: in the story’s chilling final scene, unfolding on “the last Martin Luther King holiday the nation would ever observe,” unclothed Black bodies of all ages march into the hulls of ships, leaving “the New World as their forebears had arrived,” with armed troops standing at the ready, daring them to attempt escape (Bell, p. 194).

It’s a disturbingly prescient allegory in 2026, a year when situations Bell satirized appear to materialize by the second—from Black neighborhoods being occupied by militarized forces to debates about achievement, diversity efforts, and the socalled race problem. The most troubling aspect, though, is the sense that society has failed to heed the warning at its core: that the solution to white supremacy and unbridled capitalism cannot be the erasure of Black people.

Instead, we have fallen into a trap rooted in the inability to recognize that Black liberation—not our oppression or removal—is essential to a truly democratic society.

Black Americans’ fight for full citizenship has been marked by promises and betrayals. The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments gave rise to segregation laws, disenfranchisement, and extrajudicial killings that persisted for nearly a century. The Civil Rights Movement’s victories, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have been challenged and weakened by the courts and the Trump Administration’s faulty interpretations of law. But the primary betrayal

38

is the rejection of a fundamental truth: when Black communities progress, all others benefit.

The Civil Rights Movement catalyzed subsequent efforts led by women, Latinos, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ-plus people to expand opportunity through nonviolent protest, strategic litigation, and advocacy. When Black Americans have gained greater access to freedom and opportunity, other groups have risen to new levels of educational, employment, and economic achievement. According to the Center for American Progress’s 2014 report, The Economic Benefits of Closing Educational Achievement Gaps, closing the BlackWhite and HispanicWhite achievement gaps in that year would have put our economy on track to grow by 5.8%, or $2.3 trillion, by 2050 (CAP, 2014).

The tenacity of the Legal Defense Fund and other civil society organizations has ensured measurable progress for Black communities and the country as a whole. Yet opponents of civil rights repeatedly signal a willingness to sacrifice collective liberation if Black communities are perceived as primary beneficiaries. The gains of the last half century, compounded by the election of the first Black president and the racial reckoning of 2020, elicited fierce resistance that intensified after the 2024 election of President Donald Trump. As LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute warned in Attack on Our Power and Dignity: What Project 2025 Means for Black Communities, that agenda—aligned with the administration’s actions—made clear that our communities were in the bullseye. Black unemployment has risen, the racialwealth gap has widened, and access to the ballot has been increasingly threatened.

Democracy cannot be secure until the most vulnerable are centered.

Failing to center race leads to repeated crises and reforms that exclude those most affected. To end the cycle of progress and

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

retrenchment, we must name race explicitly, confront deprivation, and refuse to sideline racial justice. That includes our allies across civil society, many of whom have, in the past, relented to pressure in ways that were less than helpful.

Consider the Help America Vote Act of 2002. In response to the 2000 presidential election, advocates pushed for legislation to prevent the issues voters endured. Intended to strengthen democracy, it was shaped largely by white voters’ experiences. The bill that passed included photo ID requirements that disproportionately harm many voters, particularly Black voters. It’s a cautionary tale: reforms that fail to center race perpetuate exclusion.

The lesson I learned from that experience 2002, and now in 2025, is that civil society has both a responsibility and an opportunity to build a democracy that recognizes Black liberation as the measure of democracy’s success. Until race is centered, reforms will fail, and democracy will remain fragile. Indeed, ignoring the lessons of the traumatic experiences of Black people, the canaries in the mine, those oppressions will proliferate and ensnare everyone. As Bell cautioned in The Space Traders, a nation that refuses to center Black liberation will always find itself gambling away its future.

Todd A. Cox is Associate Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF). LDF was founded in 1940

by Thurgood Marshall as the nation’s first and foremost legal institution fighting for racial justice.

Black Americans’ fight for full citizenship has been marked by promises and betrayals.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 39

Amplifying Black Perspectives: Spotlight on Voting Rights and Civic Engagement Which of the following best describes the current status of voting rights for Black Americans?

Nearly 60% of respondents said that Black Americans’ voting rights are being dismantled.

Unsure

2%

Black Americans’ voting rights are not currently under threat

2%

Black Americans’ voting rights are not currently under threat Black Americans’ voting rights face ongoing challenges or attacks but remain intact Black Americans’ voting rights are being dismantled Unsure

Black Americans’ voting rights face are being dismantled

59%

Black Americans’ voting rights face ongoing challenges or attacks but remain intact

37%

DATA SOURCE: THE CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH AMPLIFYING BLACK PERSPECTIVES DATA PROJECT. RESULTS ARE BASED ON ANALYSIS OF AN ONLINE SURVEY OF 187 BLACK-IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS CONDUCTED BETWEEN JANUARY 14 – 30, 2026.

40

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

Voting Rights Policy Landscape Black Americans have faced barriers to civic participation since the country’s founding. Although the first U.S. presidential election took place in 1789, Black Americans were excluded from the electorate and denied recognition as full citizens. It was not until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865, which formally abolished slavery, that the legal foundation for Black citizenship began to take shape.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment granted Black men the constitutional right to vote, and, in 1920, the 19th Amendment extended suffrage to women. Yet, white Americans continued to prohibit minoritized women from voting, and Black Americans across the South continued to be disenfranchised through poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and other forms of racialized voter suppression that hollowed out these constitutional guarantees.

Passed with bipartisan support during the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) cemented federal protections for Black voters, abolishing policies implemented during the early twentieth century that prohibited Black Americans from freely participating in democracy. Hailed as a landmark piece of civil rights legislation, the VRA not only recognized an entrenched pattern of racial discrimination in American elections but also established a framework to address it for decades to come. Notably, Section 5 of the VRA hinged on the concept of preclearance, a process which required federal review of any changes to voting laws or electoral maps in jurisdictions with histories of racially discriminatory electoral practices. The bill was a hard-won victory for civil rights, paving the way for Black Americans to achieve some of the highest voter turnout rates of any demographic.

Since its passage, the VRA has faced sustained state and federal attacks. In 2013, in a 5-4 ideological split, the Supreme Court ruled the preclearance provision unconstitutional, with the conservative majority declaring its eligibility formula outdated. Emboldened by this decision, several states, including North Carolina and Texas, have moved to gerrymander electoral districts to dilute Black voters’ impact, though these efforts have been largely dismissed by the courts. In April 2026, the Supreme Court dealt another blow to the VRA by weakening Section 2, which provided a mechanism for individuals to challenge their electoral maps if they suppressed the votes of racial or ethnic minorities. In

Louisiana v. Callais, the Court outlawed race-based redistricting efforts and asserted that complainants seeking legal remedy under the VRA now have to establish racially discriminatory intent in electoral maps, exceeding the previous standard of discriminatory impact. In response to the ruling, several states immediately created new electoral maps that dilute the votes of Black Americans. The ruling will likely lead to declines in diversity among elected officials, including the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

The 119th Congress has also considered legislation to restrict voting rights. In February 2026, House Republicans passed legislation that would add additional barriers to the voter registration process. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, originally introduced in 2025, would eliminate online voter registration, require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote, prohibit universal mail voting, and mandate that voters provide photo ID in order to cast their ballots.

As of early May, it had stalled in the Senate.

Republican lawmakers’ repeated attempts to pass voter suppression laws emphasize the significance of civic participation in this political landscape. A strong coalition of voting rights advocates have sought to expand voting rights. In 2018, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition mobilized voters to pass Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to many formerly incarcerated individuals with felony convictions. In 2021, CBC member Rep. Terri A. Sewell introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore preclearance and help expand the right to vote. While the bill has not yet passed the Senate, the CBC and other voting rights advocates have continued to push this legislation forward. Days before the Callais decision in April 2026, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed into law the Maryland Voting Rights Act, a law that bans election practices that weaken the voting power of protected groups or lead to racially polarized voting.

While challenges persist, Black communities are continuing to make their voices heard and striving to extend the work of past civil rights activists to secure future voting protections, supported by state and local leaders.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 41

Timeline December 6, 1865 States ratified the 13th Amendment, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States except as punishment for a crime.

August 18, 1920 States ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, though minoritized women were often still excluded.

February 3, 1870 States ratified the 15th Amendment, granting Black men the right to vote.

42

January 23, 1964 States ratified the 24th Amendment, banning poll taxes.

March 1965 Civil rights activists marched from Selma to Montgomery, AL to advocate for voting rights and were met with violent opposition in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

August 6, 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, banning literacy tests at polls and enforcing the 15th Amendment on a federal level.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

July 1, 1971 States ratify the 26th Amendment, lowering the legal voting age to 18.

September 28, 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act into law, requiring polling places in federal elections to be accessible for people with disabilities and the elderly.

May 20, 1993 President Bill Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act into law, requiring state motor vehicle agencies to offer voter registration opportunities.

October 29, 2002 President George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act into law, mandating that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission improve and certify voting equipment.

June 25, 2013 The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Shelby County v.

Holder, declaring part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional and abolishing preclearance for states with a history of voter intimidation.

August 17, 2021 Rep. Terri A. Sewell, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Board of Directors, introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore preclearance and increase access to voting.

February 11, 2026 The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amended version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. August 17, 2021 Rep. Terri A. Sewell, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Board of Directors, introduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore preclearance and increase access to voting.

April 10, 2025 The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, creating additional barriers for voters by requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

April 29, 2026 The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, effectively dismantling section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and declaring racial gerrymandering unconstitutional.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 43

Counting Out Democracy: How Census Threats and Voting Rights Erosion Converge to Weaken Black Political Power in a Period of Democratic Backsliding Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean Introduction At its core, democracy in the United States works as a system for allocating political power, built on three closely connected pillars: the census, voting, and redistricting. In principle, an equitable democracy depends on the interaction between accurate population counts, free and fair elections, and redistricting processes free of partisan or racial bias. When these pillars function as they should, population presence is translated into real political voice across diverse communities.

When they are weakened, whether by structural failure or intentional disruption, the resulting inequities in political power can persist for decades.

Two mechanisms that play a critical role in holding up the democratic system are the decennial census and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The census shapes who is counted and how political power is distributed, while the VRA helps determine whether that distribution is protected from distortion resulting from discriminatory redistricting or election practices. These two are foundational and inseparable.

An accurate census alone does not guarantee fair representation if voting rights are not enforced, and strong voting rights protections cannot fully correct the harms of a deeply flawed or politicized census.

When both are simultaneously weakened, their effects compound, magnifying the damage to democratic representation and equitable political power.

44

As the U.S. enters a period of democratic backsliding marked by rising authoritarian tactics, protecting democratic institutions is increasingly urgent. Democratic backsliding involves the erosion of democratic norms and safeguards, particularly free and fair elections and civil liberties. Threats to the census and voting rights can be further understood through the “10 Steps to Autocracy and Authoritarianism” framework, especially Steps 1, 7, and 10.1 Step 1, “Win the Last Fair Election,” shows how structural changes, such as weakened voting protections and biased redistricting, can entrench autocratic power. Step 7, “Scapegoat Vulnerable Communities,” is reflected in the disproportionate impact of census undercounts and voting restrictions on Black communities, effectively eroding equity.

Step 10, “End Democracy Itself,” arises when inaccurate population counts and diminished voting safeguards combine to limit marginalized communities’ ability to translate participation into durable political power. Together, these dynamics show how democratic erosion can happen incrementally, leaving formal institutions in place while steadily weakening their capacity to support inclusive representation.

While democratic backsliding affects the functioning of democracy as a whole, the consequences are not evenly distributed. Black communities, whose political power has historically depended on robust civil rights enforcement, accurate population counts, and institutional protections against exclusion, face especially severe risks as democratic structures and safeguards erode. In this context, threats to the census and the VRA go beyond mere policy disagreement. Instead, they shape the underlying systems that

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

determine who is counted, whose voices carry weight, and how political power is sustained over time. This article will discuss how escalating threats to the 2030 Census and the erosion of the VRA interact within a broader pattern of democratic backsliding, impacting Black political power and equitable democratic representation in the United States. It will also explore how individuals and civil society can act to protect democratic infrastructure, strengthen inclusive participation, and push back against the steady erosion of American democracy.

The Decennial Census: Why It Matters and Impacts on Black Political Power The decennial census is a constitutional requirement and a foundational pillar of democratic governance, determining congressional apportionment, redistricting, and the distribution of federal resources for a full decade. Although the census is designed to count every resident once and in the correct place, it has consistently fallen short of this goal for historically marginalized communities. 2 As the population has grown larger and more complex, census operations have become more challenging, and the consequences of inaccuracy have become more severe. Census errors do not affect all groups equally, and recent counts have persistently overcounted Non-Hispanic White populations while undercounting Black, Native American, and Hispanic populations, distorting both political representation and access to public resources.

From the Three-Fifths Compromise that shaped the first census in 1790 to persistent net undercounts throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Black Americans have rarely been fully counted as part of the democratic polity. To understand how people are undercounted and/or missed in the decennial census, two terms are commonly used: omissions and net undercounts. Omissions occur when people are missed in the census. Net undercounts occur when the number of people omitted is greater than the number of people that are counted more than once (i.e., those who are overcounted).

The Black population has historically been undercounted in the census, and relatively high net undercounts for the Black population have consistently occurred since 1940. In the 2010 Census, the

Black population had the highest net undercount rate (2.1) of any major race/Hispanic group.3 Furthermore, the omission rate of the Black population was 9.3, corresponding to approximately 3.8 million Black people being missed in the 2010 Census. In the 2020 Census, the Black population experienced a net undercount rate of 3.3 and an omission rate of 10.2, reinforcing long-standing disparities in census coverage.

These patterns reflect broader structural factors, including distrust of government, economic insecurity, housing instability, and complex household arrangements, all of which disproportionately affect Black communities. Because census data shape reapportionment, redistricting, and the allocation of federal funding for the next decade, undercounts and omissions in 2020 are already influencing political power and resource distribution today. As the 2030 Census approaches, these persistent disparities underscore an urgent concern: without sustained and intentional efforts to address historical undercounts and emerging operational and political threats, Black communities remain at heightened risk of being systematically counted out of the democratic systems that allocate political power.

The 2030 Census: Potential Threats and Impacts on Democracy in the U.S. Threats to the 2030 Census must be understood within the broader context of democratic backsliding, which unfolds through incremental legal, administrative, and institutional changes that gradually reshape the rules of political participation and representation. It is important to note that these challenges are not simply isolated technical problems. Instead, they are part of a wider struggle over the democratic infrastructure that determines how political power is distributed and how representational baselines can be quietly restructured long after the census is complete.

Stronger Political Control. A central theme in emerging proposals for census governance is the expansion of political control over the Census Bureau. Project 2025 explicitly calls for stronger political leadership, increased reliance on political appointees, and closer

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 45

alignment of census operations with conservative policy priorities.4 While framed as efforts to improve accountability, such changes risk undermining the Census Bureau’s long-standing norm of professional independence, which has historically been critical to maintaining public trust and integrity. In a system that depends on widespread participation, even the perception that census decisions are politically motivated can depress response rates among communities that already have reason to distrust federal institutions, including Black communities.

Dissolution of Census Bureau Advisory Committees. In 2025, the Department of Commerce formally disbanded all three of the Census Bureau’s federal advisory committees: the 2030 Census Advisory Committee, the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, and the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations.5 These committees had long provided structured opportunities for scientists, technical experts, civil rights organizations, and community leaders to inform census planning, outreach strategies, and dataquality safeguards. Their dissolution came at a critical point, as preparations for the 2030 Census accelerated and the Census Bureau began testing new methodologies and operational approaches that will shape enumeration for the next decade. Their elimination removes key channels for external input and reduces transparency at a moment when public trust and methodological rigor are especially important. Civil rights and community organizations warned that without these committees, the Census Bureau loses valuable capacity to identify emerging risks to participation and coverage, weakening accountability and increasing the likelihood that inequities will persist into the next decade.

Administrative Data Inequities. Administrative records are positioned to play a substantially larger role in the 2030 Census.

The Census Bureau defines administrative records as data collected by government agencies (and, in some cases, private entities) for purposes other than statistical enumeration. For the 2030 Census, the Bureau plans to expand the use of these records to enumerate nonresponding households, reduce the number of field visits, and support address list development through machine-learning tools.6 While these data offer potential efficiencies, their risks are not evenly

46

distributed. These systems reflect unequal access to stable housing, health care, formal employment, and government services, which are inequalities shaped by race and the enduring effects of discrimination.

For Black communities, gaps in administrative coverage, inconsistent record linkage, frequent residential mobility, and longstanding distrust of government systems increase the likelihood of misclassification or omission. Without rigorous testing, transparent reporting, and bias-correction strategies, expanded reliance on administrative data risks embedding structural inequities into the census rather than correcting them.

Protective Actions. Addressing these threats requires action well before Census Day. Individuals, policymakers, and civil society organizations can advocate for full, sustained federal funding for the 2030 Census to ensure robust outreach, field operations, language access, and rigorous testing of new technologies and methods.

Advocates can also push for the restoration of independent advisory committees, greater transparency around the use of administrative records and machine-learning tools, and protections that preserve the Census Bureau’s professional independence from political interference. Moreover, civil society organizations can begin organizing and educating communities now about why being counted matters for representation, resources, and political power. Starting this work early can help overwhelm the forces that suppress participation, because debates over the 2030 Census are not merely technical disputes; they are contests over whether the nation’s core democratic infrastructure will continue to support inclusive political power or further entrench long-standing inequalities for decades to come.

The Voting Rights Act: Why It Matters and Impacts on Black Political Power The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) is a cornerstone of American democracy and one of the most significant civil rights laws in U.S. history. Enacted to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment’s guarantee that the right to vote shall not be denied on the basis of race, the VRA was designed to dismantle entrenched systems of racial exclusion that persisted despite constitutional protections. VRA

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

provisions addressed both overt barriers to voting (e.g., literacy tests and poll taxes) and more subtle exclusionary practices, including discriminatory redistricting. By regulating how political power is translated from population into representation, the VRA has played a central role in shaping fair electoral participation and representation for Black communities.

However, the protections of the VRA have been significantly weakened over the past few decades. The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder eliminated the protection of Section 5’s preclearance.7 Subsequent decisions narrowed the scope of Section 2, making it more difficult to challenge vote dilution and discriminatory practices.

The most recent and consequential of these is Louisiana v. Callais, in which the Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering and incumbent protection can serve as justifications for redistricting maps that reduce the political power of minority voters.8 This ruling led to the swift movement of several Republican-controlled southern states (e.g., Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) to draw more extreme gerrymanders, with further efforts expected at both the state and local levels. State-level redistricting efforts have been further accelerated by pressure from the Trump administration, which has actively encouraged Republican-controlled states to pursue aggressive gerrymandering (even at the cost of disrupting ongoing elections), reinforcing a broader pattern of democratic backsliding in which political power is incrementally concentrated at the expense of fair and inclusive representation. Together, these decisions have enabled the rapid adoption of restrictive voting laws and redistricting plans that disproportionately burden Black voters, reducing their electoral influence and weakening safeguards against discrimination. As with census undercounts, the consequences of these shifts are unevenly distributed, with Black political power more exposed to erosion in the absence of strong federal safeguards.

Without renewed enforcement or legislative strengthening, Black communities face a growing risk of being systematically marginalized within the structures that determine future political representation.

The weakening of the VRA must also be understood within a broader period of democratic backsliding in the U.S. In this context, the narrowing of voting rights protections functions as an authoritarian

tactic that preserves the appearance of a democratic process while incremental legal and procedural changes constrain participation. As federal oversight recedes, state and local actors gain greater latitude to reshape electoral rules to entrench existing power structures, particularly in jurisdictions with histories of racial exclusion. Moreover, these actions could potentially lead to the last fair election and hollow out the systems that enable meaningful political competition and representation over time.

The Voting Rights Act: Threats and Impacts on Democracy in the U.S. Threats affecting the VRA have emerged through a combination of legal reinterpretation, policy choices, and administrative shifts that are reshaping the conditions of democratic participation in the U.S. Rather than occurring through a single repeal or dramatic break, erosion has unfolded across multiple arenas, signaling a broader shift in the democratic system that has significant and lasting implications for political inclusion and accountability.

Expansion of Restrictive Voting Laws. In the immediate aftermath of the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder ruling, states swiftly moved to implement voting changes that had previously been blocked or deterred (e.g., voter identification requirements, reductions in early voting, polling place closures, and changes to voter registration procedures). With preclearance eliminated, these laws were able to take effect without prior federal review. More than a decade later, this pattern has not slowed, and data indicate that at least 16 states enacted 31 new restrictive voting laws in 2025.9 Although many of these measures are framed as neutral election administration reforms, research shows that they disproportionately burden Black voters by increasing the time, cost, and logistical barriers associated with voting, particularly in Southern states where histories of discrimination remain most pronounced. Taken together, the Shelby decision and the sustained enactment of restrictive voting laws have reshaped the landscape of democratic participation by weakening federal safeguards and allowing structural barriers to voting to accumulate across election cycles, with profound consequences for Black political power.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 47

Impacts of Louisiana v. Callais. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais represents a decisive and damaging blow to Section 2 of the VRA, fundamentally reshaping the legal landscape for Black political representation. This ruling eliminates one of the last remaining federal mechanisms for correcting discriminatory redistricting practices, allowing states to cite partisan or incumbentprotection goals to legally justify maps that dilute Black political power— making racial gerrymandering nearly impossible to prove and even harder to remedy in court. The projected consequences are severe: analyses indicate that up to 19 congressional seats currently held by candidates elected from majority-Black or coalition districts could be lost, substantially reducing Black representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.10 At the state level, an estimated 191 state legislative districts across 10 Southern states could be redrawn to eliminate existing majority-Black districts. Consistent with these projections, several Republican-controlled Southern states moved rapidly to redraw maps in the ruling’s wake. In fact, within about a week of the Callais decision, Tennessee’s congressional map was redrawn to eliminate the state’s only Black-majority district.

As “redistricting wars” ramp up over time, gerrymandering will not only reduce representation but also weaken the ability of Black communities to influence legislative agendas and policy outcomes over multiple election cycles. At the structural level, the Callais decision ensures that fair representation for Black communities will increasingly depend on legislative goodwill rather than enforceable law, allowing discriminatory systems to persist unchecked and making meaningful political representation far harder to achieve. In this way, the decision confirms how democratic erosion can occur through legal reinterpretation, embedding long-term inequities into the very systems that structure political representation.

Stalled Corrective Legislation. Federal efforts to address the erosion of voting rights through legislation have repeatedly stalled, most notably with respect to the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.11 Introduced to restore and modernize the preclearance framework dismantled by Shelby County v. Holder, the bill would reestablish federal oversight of voting changes in jurisdictions with recent records of discrimination and strengthen protections against discriminatory voting practices nationwide.

48

Persistent political opposition and procedural barriers in Congress have left critical gaps in voting rights protections. Without restored preclearance, enforcement remains largely reactive, placing the burden on affected communities to challenge discriminatory practices only after they have already influenced electoral outcomes. This dynamic allows erosive changes to voting systems, representation, and political power to accumulate across election cycles with limited federal constraint.

Protective Actions. Addressing these threats requires sustained action from individuals, policymakers, and civil society organizations that can continue to push Congress to restore key protections of the Voting Rights Act, including passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and stronger federal oversight of discriminatory voting changes. Because the Callais decision has shifted the primary legal battleground from federal to state law, advocates must also work to strengthen state-level protections, including supporting the passage and defense of state voting rights acts, advocating for state constitutional amendments that limit partisan gerrymandering, and pushing for the adoption of independent redistricting commissions that reduce opportunities for racially discriminatory map-drawing.

Policymakers can also hold hearings and investigations into gerrymandered maps across the country to expose how minority voters are being silenced and to build the case for fairer redistricting.

Furthermore, civil society organizations can challenge restrictive voting laws, monitor election administration, and support litigation that protects fair maps and equal access to the ballot. Individuals can contribute by participating in voter education and mobilization efforts to help communities understand their rights and the voting process. Together, these actions can help protect fair participation and prevent further erosion of democratic representation in the United States.

Conclusion As the United States approaches a series of consequential elections and the 2030 Census, the systems that shape democratic participation are under growing strain as threats to the VRA intersect with new risks to how communities are counted. These developments are unfolding amid broader democratic backsliding, in which legal

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

and administrative changes gradually narrow participation while concentrating political power in the hands of autocratic leaders.

While these threats may seem disparate, policies affecting the census and voting rights cannot be treated separately. When both are simultaneously weakened, their effects compound and increase the risk that historically marginalized communities, especially Black communities, will be pushed further to the margins of political representation.

Addressing these risks requires clear policy action. Congress must provide full and sustained funding for the 2030 Census to support strong outreach, field operations, and careful testing of new technologies and data systems. Policymakers should also restore independent census advisory committees, increase transparency around the use of administrative records and algorithmic tools, and protect the Census Bureau’s professional independence from political interference. Moreover, restoring strong voting rights protections at both the federal and state levels remains essential. In addition to passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and strengthening federal oversight of discriminatory voting changes, advocates must simultaneously pursue state-level remedies to fill the enforcement gaps left by the erosion of federal protections.

Protecting the census and voting rights will also require sustained civic engagement and strategic organizing. Individuals, policymakers, and civil society organizations play an important role in educating communities about the importance of being counted and participating in elections, advocating for stronger democratic safeguards, and building coalitions that defend inclusive participation. Without proactive collective action, the cumulative effects of democratic backsliding and emerging authoritarian practices risk entrenching inequalities in political power and reshaping American democracy in ways that will be difficult to reverse.

Congress must provide full and sustained funding for the 2030 Census to support strong outreach, field operations, and careful testing of new technologies and data systems.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 49

Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean is the President of Fair Count, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to ensure an accurate census and expand civic participation nationwide. She is a highly skilled researcher with over 20 years of experience conducting population-based studies and projects. Jeanine is a Keseb Democracy Fellow, engaged in cross-country learning with democracy entrepreneurs from the United States, Brazil, and South Africa. She was recently selected as a Highland Project Leader, where she will use political agency to develop long-term solutions that advance justice and multi-generational opportunities.

References 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

50

9. Brennan Center for Justice. (2026). State Voting Laws Roundup: 2025 in Review | Brennan Center for Justice. https://www. brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-voting-lawsroundup-2025-review 10. Black Voters Matter Fund & Fair Fight Action. (2025). What happens in the South doesn’t stay in the South: Louisiana v.

Callais: The Supreme Court case that could enable Republicans to Rig Congress. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/wp-content/ uploads/2025/10/Fair-Fight-Action-x-Black-Voters-Matter-Report. pdf 11. Campaign Legal Center. (2025). Why America Needs the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Campaign Legal Center. https://campaignlegal.org/update/why-america-needs-johnlewis-voting-rights-advancement-act

10 Steps Campaign. (2026). The 10 Steps to Autocracy and Authoritarianism. 10 Steps to Freedom & Power. https://10stepscampaign.org/ Bouk, D. (2022). Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them. MCD. O’Hare, W. (2019, August 14). Understanding Who Was Missed in the 2010 Census. Population Reference Bureau. https://www.prb. org/news/understanding-who-was-missed-in-the-2010-census/ The Heritage Foundation. (2024). Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership—The Conservative Promise. The Heritage Foundation.

The Census Project. (2025, May 8). Concerns Expressed for Elimination of Census Advisory Committees. The Census Project. https://thecensusproject.org/2025/05/08/concerns-expressedfor-elimination-of-census-advisory-committees/ U.S. Government Accountability Office. (n.d.). 2030 Census: Preparations Are Underway with Changes to How the Count Takes Place. Retrieved April 15, 2026, from https://www.gao. gov/products/gao-25-107886 NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. (n.d.). Shelby County v. Holder. Legal Defense Fund. Retrieved April 15, 2026, from https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/shelby-county-v-holder/ Bannon, A. (2026, May 7). The Aftermath of Callais. State Court Report. https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/ aftermath-callais

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

51

Black Voter Suppression: One Battle After Another Dr. Fred McBride Introduction Nearly 50 years ago, Georgia House Reapportionment Chairman Joe Mack Wilson vowed not to draw any “****** district.”1 Thankfully, such publicly racist, vulgar, and crass statements regarding election districts and Black people — or basically any matter — are seldom heard at legislative sessions in the 21st century.

Or are they?

Whatever diction is used, the resulting redistricting premise remains the same today. That heinous word is now replaced with Black or African American, Latinx, or a combination of both and any other racial or ethnic minority and constitutionally accepted as partisan redistricting in federal elections. This is particularly true after the Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013, which dismantled the Section 5 preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), deemed the crown jewel of our democracy, and the practical obliteration of the Act in Louisiana v. Callais.

The current state of U.S. minority voting rights is altogether troubling.

This policy issue, specifically how it affects Black communities, will be addressed along with the implications of Callais, a failed voting rights bill (HR 5746 — the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act) and policy recommendations to advance a fair, equitable and truly representative democracy.

Efforts to suppress the Black vote are not new. The advent of more novel yet questionable tactics and practices by those determined to relive the past does not cease to amaze Black voters. While voter suppression policies enacted before and shortly after 1965 are not

52

necessarily relics of the past, a more innovative voter suppression toolbox has emerged containing everything from “partisan” middecade redistricting efforts, policies prohibiting the provision of snacks or beverages to voters waiting in long lines at the polls and current efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice to compel states to turn over sensitive voting records. Such tactics help shape electoral outcomes and diminish minority Black and Brown electoral power.

Past Is Prologue President Lyndon Johnson demanded his attorney general, Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach, compose “the goddamnedest toughest voting bill he could write.” The resultant VRA led to record increases in Black voter registrations and ultimately Black electoral success.

Section 2 (§2) of the VRA prohibits violations of the right to vote on account of race or color through voting qualifications or prerequisites.

Section 5 (§5) created a “watchdog” provision, known as preclearance in covered jurisdictions, over certain jurisdictions with a documented record of racial discrimination in voting to ensure compliance with racial fairness in voting practices.

Many scholars cite the 1965 VRA as the most significant piece of legislation aimed at enforcing and protecting the franchise for minority voters. By 1967, more than half a million Black voters had been registered in the seven covered states in §5. In 1975, the VRA was extended to include language minority groups. In 1982, §2 was strengthened to make clear that restrictions resulting in unequal access also violate the law. The VRA was most recently reauthorized in 2006, with overwhelming bipartisan support.

However, since the VRA’s enactment, the dismantling of the §5 preclearance requirement, the deconstruction of §2 in Louisiana v. Callais, the Common Cause v. Rucho ruling that partisan

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

gerrymandering claims are nonjusticiable in federal courts, and a host of other litigation have diminished the VRA. Policies and practices like at-large elections, anti-single-shot provisions, and literacy tests continue to grow. They resemble past measures, with a continuous flow of state legislatures passing even more restrictive voting laws, one battle after another.

and denied their voter registrations. Finally, one cannot discount or forget the actual violence and pending threats of violence against minorities in this country throughout U.S. history. During the 1960s, dramatic events involving protests, marches and deaths spurred national attention to segregationist policies and the plight of Black people, helping them gain free and fair access to the ballot.

Yet the VRA has always been under attack. It has not been sufficient, on its own, to counteract vote dilution and suppression efforts. These efforts include malapportioned districts (districts that are over- or under-populated, usually to disadvantage the minority population) and the reduction of the number of seats on councils designed to prevent the possible election or appointment of a minority candidate, as well as the failure to redistrict after a census, and the annexation of predominantly white areas to ignore and counter the gains in minority populations. These measures have been enacted across multiple states, counties, and cities to weaken minority voting strength.

Failure to Act In January 2022, after passage in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate failed to pass major voting rights legislation — the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act — that would have significantly protected voting rights and access for all Americans. 2 The bill failed because senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted against reforming filibuster rules to allow its passage. The act would have restored the VRA after considerable damage in the courts and fostered important reforms like automatic voter registration, modernized voter technology and redistricting reform to counter gerrymandering. These and a host of other measures would allow eligible voters an equal opportunity to cast ballots, have their votes counted and restore election integrity.

Jurisdictions continued to devise sophisticated schemes to dilute minority voting strength or to seek litigation for favorable court rulings that weakened the VRA. In 1993, white voters were successful in Shaw v. Reno, objecting to what they perceived as racially motivated redistricting in North Carolina’s 12th District. On appeal, appellants successfully claimed the reapportionment plan segregated voters by race and violated their right to a color-blind electoral process. The Shaw decision encouraged legal assaults in states that attempted to provide Black and Latinx voters an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice through the provisions of the VRA. Southern whites employed strategic measures during the 19th and 20th centuries to disenfranchise voters of color. These included voter fraud allegations, revised state constitutions and statutory suffrage restrictions, along with the Grandfather Clause, poll taxes, the White Primary, literacy tests and intimidation, to name a few. White election officials adopted a reasonable interpretation clause as a de facto literacy test since many white voters could not read or write either.

White registrars had discretion to evaluate applicants’ performance on the literacy test, with most white voters successfully passing the exam, while evaluators rejected Black voters’ responses to questions

According to the Brennan Center, over 440 bills with provisions restricting voting access were introduced in 49 states during the 2021 legislative sessions. Lawmakers in many states shifted election administration responsibilities to partisan actors.3 Further, many local election boards removed certain appointees without cause and eliminated any vestige of bipartisanship in election administration.

Either new state voting laws or court decisions were added to the maze of voting rules and practices, usually confusing voters and reducing electoral participation.

Additionally, a variety of current circumstances may increase challenges for Black and other minority voters. First, the possibility of ICE raids and other law enforcement or military presence will increase fear, confusion, and apathy, particularly if this presence is concentrated in racial and ethnic minority and immigrant communities.

Second, voters in states that have recently redrawn districts must navigate those newly drawn election districts to find new polling places while possibly unaware of the recent election changes. Third, racial gerrymandering, often disguised as partisan gerrymandering,

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 53

allows states to use mid-decade redistricting efforts as an opportunity to “pack” many minorities in as few districts as possible, or “crack” minority voter populations and disperse small portions of minority communities throughout majority-white districts. This redistricting strategy dilutes minority voting strength. It can either reduce the possibility of more minorities being elected to office or eliminate the possibility of electing any minority individuals to office. The practice largely would not have been possible under the federal protections once provided in §2 and §5 of the VRA. The power in the vote involves much more than only exercising that right, however. Voter suppression measures used in drawing districts are often reflected in electoral outcomes. In fact, researchers have long argued that the single most important determinant of Black electoral success is the racial composition of the electoral district.

For example, analysts can determine the likelihood of a candidate’s electoral success based on district demographics and past election results. A 2021 study by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law found that racial demographics drove election results in Georgia State House and State Senate elections.4 Districts where Black registered voters were over 40% of the total population or where voters of color were greater than 50% of the total population almost always elected Democratic candidates, whereas districts where white voters comprised 55% or more of registered voters usually elected Republican candidates.

Sophisticated software easily plots voters by party, race and ethnicity using data from state voter files. The availability of data and resources creates opportunities for mappers to draw an abundance of redistricting plans with relative ease, creating “packed” and “cracked” districts under the guise of partisanship. Consequently, partisanship, power, and control of the House of Representatives, rather than voters, fuel the current surge in mid-decade redistricting in some states. Civil rights activists must be cautious about redistricting efforts extending beyond congressional seats in states that do not ban mid-decade redistricting. These could possibly lead to state and local mid-decade redistricting efforts that also dilute minority voting strength and/or target minority-elected officials.

54

In Louisiana v. Callais, the question before the Supreme Court was whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black district, required by the VRA, is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The question posed was not only about Louisiana but also about meaningful representation for communities of color across the nation.

Extraordinarily, opponents argued that attempting to address racial discrimination under §2 of the VRA is discriminatory and violates the 14th and 15th Amendments — the Civil War amendments guaranteeing equal protection and protection from discrimination in voting based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court issued the Callais decision, a ruling that quickly, though foreseen by many, became one of the darkest days in history for minority voters. In a 6-3 decision, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority, claims to have updated the framework of §2 to align with statutory text reflecting developments since the 1980’s by reapplying the racial “intent” standard removed decades ago in redistricting, and further narrowing the test previously used to remedy §2 violations, with a willingness to allow politicians to justify racially discriminatory plans under the guise of partisan political preferences. In short, political parties and politicians are free to choose their own voters – not vice-versa!

Principles of Action All involved in the struggle to protect and sustain fair and equitable voting rights must be direct and proactive in their public education efforts, advocacy, and policy recommendations. Many question the utility of majority-minority districts while suggesting that proponents of the VRA have confused the right to vote with the right to be elected. Black and other minority candidates have been significantly successful in federal, state, and local elections. This electoral success may not have been possible without an aggressive measure like the VRA. Yet there are additional tools that may effectively ensure fair representation while maintaining the VRA’s original intent.

Congress had to step in to provide minorities, women, Washington, D.C. residents and 18-year-old voters the right to vote because of longstanding and powerful efforts that prevented certain voters

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

from exercising this fundamental democratic right. Now, Congress and states must make these rights real with a restored VRA and reforms that actually make our voting practices fair and just. State VRAs, independent redistricting commissions, alternative election systems like the ranked choice voting method used in the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary, early voting, mail voting, and safe ballot drop boxes are all means to equitably increase electoral participation. While sustaining the VRA as intended, voters can also explore electoral reform measures that address independent voters and ballot access.

Voters can impact elections beyond Election Day. Many can learn to draw and advocate for fair election districts5, support fair representation voting methods that make democracy more functional and representative6, urge state lawmakers to consider state laws or constitutional amendments to counter partisan gerrymandering, promote automatic voter registration efforts, advocate for additional methods of voting like no-excuse absentee ballots and extend early voting periods and weekend voting, along with helping halt the narrative about a nonexistent threat: voter fraud.

Prior to Shelby in 2013, the U.S. Attorney General certified a total of 153 counties and parishes in eleven states to receive federal observers during elections to ensure nondiscriminatory voting practices and procedures. For four Southern states and some of their jurisdictions specifically, the list included: Alabama (22), Georgia (29), Louisiana (12), and Mississippi (51). Federal observers have been necessary in areas to ensure federal compliance with voting laws and have been trained not to interfere with the election process.

Despite whatever administration may be in power, a federal fair and independent investigative body must continue to utilize its authority to ensure that eligible voters are not denied the right to vote based on factors like race or ethnicity, religion, or national origin. Federal observers must continue to be deployed and monitor procedures at polling places in eligible political jurisdictions.

Yet voters are currently seeing weaponized federal agencies using their resources and federal voting laws to subvert not only voting rights, but other rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Hence,

a fair and independent Department of Justice must continue, or at least restore, the following pre-established directives: (1) robust and comprehensive investigations of voting practices; (2) proper enforcement of VRA Section 201, which established a permanent nationwide ban on tests and devices that deny the right to vote (it is not affected by Shelby and remains fully enforceable and protects voters nationwide); (3) the use of OPM observers without reliance on the Section 4(b) formula; (4) use of VRA Sections 4(e) and Section 203 — which provide substantial protections for language minorities nationwide and translation of election-related materials or information, neither of which the Shelby decision affects. Moreover, voters and voting rights practitioners must continue to demand important safeguards to protect those with disabilities, formerly incarcerated individuals, the elderly and displaced voters during natural disasters and climate emergencies.

Congress must revise and pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act! Nothing in the act denies states from administering their own elections, with new language, to remedy some of the effects of the Callais decision. A host of voting rights activists, attorneys, experts, and voters are convening privately and in large groups to do what we have always done – fight.

Black Votes Matter People of color are exhausted. Before passage of the VRA, voters endured counting the correct number of jellybeans in jars or bubbles in soap bars, Bloody Sunday, racial gerrymandering, poll taxes, violence, intimidation, voter purges, misinformation, an insurmountable list of suppressive measures that now resemble current efforts to disenfranchise or dilute minority voting strength — one battle after another.

Groups engaged in voter registration and public voter education strive to convince voters that their vote matters even as some states have placed restrictions on voter registration activities, citizen initiatives, and petition drives. Failure to pass needed reform disproportionately affects minority communities but directly affects every voter — even the opposing constituency.

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 55

Any voter can fail to research whether they have a new polling place location or not recognize that their community has been relocated to a different district, thereby attempting to vote at the wrong polling place.

Their vote may not be counted. Fortunately, civil rights organizations have a storied tradition of voting rights advocacy, including voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote initiatives (GOTV), and public education. Voters can get questions about their counties’ voting rules and regulations answered, including their specific polling locations, every election.7 The times are not calling for the next election, but the next elections. Since Black lives and Black votes matter, the daily horror show of perceived despotism and indifference cannot quell a magnificent opportunity to protect American democracy through the vote.

My Dungeon Shook: Conclusion A collection of current voices echo James Baldwin, writing over 60 years ago during the racial animus of the 1960s: “The very time I thought I was lost, my dungeon shook and my chains fell off.”

Sometimes in darkness, light can be found. The time has come for America to recognize that people of color are not going anywhere and will always protect the vote — the root of representative democracy.

The revolution is televised as live-action cameras and social media outlets show demonstrations — some peaceful, some not — against a pending backdrop of military-style enforcement on American soil.

Opponents say little but do so much to aid oppressive elements. They deny systemic racism, promote nationalist goals, suppress the rights of people and the press, engage in hypocrisy, and profile and condone violence against everyday people. The liberation of any people is not to attempt to eradicate differences among them, but to prevail in not allowing differences to become instruments for oppression. In records of the events of the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Sept. 18, 1787, it is written that: “A lady asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin …

Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy? A republic, replied the Doctor, if you can keep it.”

Yet, I will not end this discourse with Dr. Franklin, but instead with dialogue from the Oscar-winning movie One Battle After Another, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson character:

Dr. Fred McBride is a Senior Supervising Data and Research Analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Fred began his career promoting alternative election systems and has been involved in voting rights for over 26 years, mainly in quantitative and demographic analysis, but more specifically redistricting. He has drawn and evaluated redistricting plans, served as voting rights expert witness, performed racially polarized voting analysis, lobbied, and presented at redistricting and voting rights hearings in over 100 jurisdictions in 27 states, and the District of Columbia. Fred earned his PhD in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University, with degrees from Louisiana State University and Southern University and A&M College.

References Bond, J. (1995). The 1965 Voting Rights Act, A Beneficiary’s Commentary [Julian Bond Papers Project]. https://bondpapersproject. org/document/408 Hulse, C. (2022, January 20). After a day of debate, the voting rights bill is blocked in the Senate. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/2022/01/19/us/politics/senate-voting-rights-filibuster.html Brennan Center for Justice. (2021, October 4). Voting Laws Roundup: December 2021 This year’s tidal wave of restrictive voting legislation will continue in 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-december-2021 Greenbaum, J., Enos, J., & Korada, D. (2021). The Central Role of Racial Demographics in Georgia Elections: How Race Affects Elections for the Georgia General Assembly. https://lawyerscommittee.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/05/Final_Georgia-Redistricting-Report-1.pdf Redistricting Advocacy and Community Engagement Program. (n.d.).

Redistricting Advocacy & Community Engagement Program. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved April 14, 2026, from https://www. splcenter.org/race-program/ Ranked Choice Voting. (n.d.). FairVote. Retrieved April 14, 2026, from https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/ranked-choice-voting/ Election Protection: 866 Our Vote. (n.d.). Election Protection. Retrieved December 19, 2025, from https://866ourvote.org/

“One battle after another, and I’m still standing—barely.”

56

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION | ROOTED IN LEGACY, READY FOR THE FUTURE: THE JCPAR COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE