Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) submitted testimony to the Louisiana House and Governmental Affairs Committee expressing opposition to Senate Bill 224 (SB 224), which aims to impose burdensome identification requirements on voters casting a ballot absentee by mail or early in person. Passage of SB 224 would risk disenfranchising voters based on procedural technicalities and would disproportionately impact the rights of Black voters and other voters of color, naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, elderly voters, young voters, and low-income voters—and may violate federal laws, including the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. For years, Louisiana officials have boasted of secure elections based on the current voter confirmation procedures, but in the wake of historic turnout in the 2020 Election SB 224 is an attempt to impede voter turnout.
Read the full testimony here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
