Program Work
Barriers to Voting
“Democracy thrives when it is practiced, not prevented.” – LDF President and Director-Counsel, John Payton
LDF has a longstanding history of advocating for an inclusive democracy that represents all Americans. We...
MoreChisom v. Jindal
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) filed a friend of the court brief in Chisom v. Jindal, in support of claims that Justice Bernette Johnson is next in line to succeed the current chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, becoming the first African-American chief...
MoreCount on Change
In 2009, LDF launched Count on Change 2010, a national education campaign to ensure that African-Americans were fairly counted in the 2010 Census. Focusing on Black communities that faced the greatest risk of omission from the census, ...
MoreFarrakhan v. Gregoire
Farrakhan v. Gregoire raises the question as to whether Washington State's felon disfranchisement law violates Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. Section 2 prohibits states from using any voting qualification that results in a denial of the right to vote on...
MoreFlorida v. United States
The State of Florida filed Florida v. United States, a lawsuit that asks a federal court to approve, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the implementation four proposed voting changes.
Because these proposed changes, if approved by the court, would be harmful to Florida’s...
MoreGeorgia State Conference NAACP, et al. v. Fayette County Board of Commissioners, et al.
Widely considered the crown jewel of American democracy, the Voting Rights Act is the most effective tool for protecting minority voters against voting methods that weaken minority voting strength. As a remedy, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act provides for the creation of single-member...
MoreGeorgia v. Holder
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) represents African-American voters and organizations dedicated to the registration of African-American and other minority voters in Georgia v. Holder, a lawsuit filed by the State of Georgia. Georgia is a jurisdiction covered under Section 5 of the...
MoreHerring v. Marion County Election Board
On October 24, 2008, LDF settled a lawsuit filed just two days earlier, and designed to protect the voting rights of foreclosure victims. The suit, Herring v. Marion County Election Board, was filed in Indiana state court to ensure that eligible voters who may have faced the threat of...
MoreLandmark: Smith v. Allwright
In Smith v. Allwright, Thurgood Marshall rose in front of the United States Supreme Court to argue that Texas’s Democratic primary system allowed whites to structurally dominate the politics of the one-party South. Specifically, the case presented the question of whether the...
MoreLittle v. LATFOR
Last year, New York enacted legislation (known as “Part XX”) ending the practice known as “prison-based gerrymandering,” and realigning the state’s redistricting practices with basic principles of equality.
“Prison-based gerrymandering” is a practice whereby many states and local...
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