Voting Rights & Louisiana v. Callais
As people of faith and conscience, we know that voting rights are essential to a just, democratic society; they relate to our common values of human dignity and justice, our struggles for civil rights, and the responsiveness of our government to the needs of our communities.
This is why it’s important for faith communities to know about Louisiana v. Callais. Callais may very well be the most consequential voting-rights and redistricting case of the past ten years, with many in the election law and voting rights advocacy community identifying a significant rollback in federal voting protections, particularly for Black Americans and other historically disenfranchised groups
What the ruling does is shift vote dilution claims back to a standard that looks at intentions instead of impacts, and makes those intentions more difficult to prove. In the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act, Congress deliberately shifted away from proving discriminatory intent and toward discriminatory effects, responding to a case called Mobile v. Bolden (1980). After Bolden, civil-rights groups and members of Congress argued that this standard was too difficult to satisfy, and Congress acted to change the law. Today, legal experts have drawn parallels, noting that the Callais ruling effectively circumvents those changes.
In the attached document, you’ll find more detailed information about the case and its impact on voting rights, alongside information on what you and those in your community can do to protect voting rights, including our Interfaith Poll Chaplaincy Interest form.