Voting Rights for Millions of Black and Brown Voters Hang in the Balance as Supreme Court Reexamines Key Protections

October 15, 2025

Washington, DC — Today, the Supreme Court will hear Louisiana v. Callais, a case that could gut one of the last remaining key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits racial gerrymandering when it dilutes minority voting power. The Supreme Court has turned this redistricting dispute into a potential vehicle to question whether the Voting Rights Act itself is constitutional. This case could decide whether states can consider race at all when protecting voters of color.

In response, Hani Mirza, Director of the Power and Democracy Program at the civil rights and racial justice organization Advancement Project, issued the following statement:

“This isn’t just about Louisiana; it’s about whether America still believes in equal voting rights for all.  The Voting Rights Act has protected our democracy for 60 years. Further weakening it now would take us backward. We must protect the right to vote for all Americans, particularly Black, Latine, Indigenous, Asian, and other historically underrepresented communities who still face the harms of voter suppression and unfair representation, and we’ll do this by protecting the Voting Rights Act.”

Advancement Project is committed to safeguarding everyone’s right to vote and fair elections across the U.S. Just last week, the organization filed a federal voting rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia challenging the redistricting of Meriwether County, Georgia.  The lawsuit alleges that the district boundaries for the Meriwether County Board of Commissioners violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Black voters and leaving the Board with no Black representation, even though there had been two Black Commissioners in Meriwether County in the past. You can read more about the lawsuit here.

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Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change. We are a co-convener of the National Campaign for Police Free schools, a formation of 20+ youth-led grassroots organizations fighting to end the criminalization of youth in the classroom, create liberatory educational spaces, and implement an affirmative vision of safety and transformative justice. Visit www.advancementproject.org to learn more.