LDF Submits Written Testimony to the Louisiana House and Senate Committees on Governmental Affairs on their Obligations in the Redistricting Process

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The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”) submitted written testimony to the Louisiana House and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee in advance of one of their first joint meetings of the redistricting cycle. LDF was joined by our partners Anti-Defamation League South Central, Campaign Legal Center, Fair Districts Louisiana, League of Women Voters Louisiana, Louisiana Progress, Urban League of Louisiana, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and SPLC Action Fund. The letter reiterates the obligations of the Committees and the entire Louisiana Legislature to ensure fair representation and non-discrimination in redistricting, and establish an open and accessible redistricting process. 

The testimony submitted includes two important points for Louisiana’s legislative leaders as they embark on the redistricting process: 

1. First, Because of Louisiana’s ongoing, stark patterns of voting along racial lines, the heart of evidence of minority vote dilution, the Committees must ensure that voters of color have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice through: a. Compliance with the one person, one vote principle embodied in the U.S. Constitution; and b. Assurance that the electoral lines drawn do not dilute minority voting strength through compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act II.
2. And second, legislators must ensure that all Louisianans have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in and provide input on the map-drawing process, and legislators must provide transparent reasoning regarding their ultimate decision-making during the redistricting process.

Read the full written testimony here.

Ahead of the 2021 redistricting cycle, LDF, AAJC, and MALDEF released Power on the Line(s): Making Redistricting Work for Us, a guide for community partners and policy makers who intend to engage in the redistricting process at all levels of government. The guide provides essential information about the redistricting process, such as examples of recent efforts to dilute the voting power of communities of color and considerations for avoiding such dilution. Read the guide 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.