Larson Blasts Supreme Court Decision Gutting the Voting Rights Act to Greenlight Jim Crow Racial Gerrymanders

Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) blasted the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which effectively gives the green light for states to ignore Voting Rights Act redistricting requirements. Today’s decision comes on the heels of Republican mid-decade Congressional redistricting efforts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida, aimed at eliminating majority-Black and Hispanic districts. Larson called on Congress to respond by passing the Redistricting Reform Acthe introduced in September with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) to ban mid-decade redistricting and require states to establish independent redistricting commissions. 

“As Republican mid-decade redistricting games dilute the voices of Black and Hispanic voters before our very eyes, the Supreme Court just poured gas on the fire by gutting yet another section of the Voting Rights Act,” said Larson. “Lawmakers in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already enacted new Congressional maps eliminating a number of majority-minority districts. If Congress does not step in to stop these Jim Crow racial gerrymanders, Black voters in the South could be left with little to no representation in the United States House of Representatives by the end of this decade. We cannot sit on the sidelines. As my late friend, colleague, and seatmate, John Lewis would say, now is the time for some good trouble. We must act to restore the Voting Rights Act and end the redistricting war playing out across the country, so every American’s voice can be heard at the ballot box.”