Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), issued the following statement in response to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comments that making voting “a little more difficult” for “liberal” students is “a great idea”:
“Calling voter suppression ‘a great idea’ is repugnant to our laws and ideals. Within the last month, LDF represented students at two historically Black colleges who were denied the right to vote. For those students, and for far too many other Americans, the senator’s comments are neither amusing nor abstract. They are cutting reminders that many in power do not respect their most fundamental right as citizens. We condemn the senator’s comments, and we will continue fighting for equal voting rights in the United States.”
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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 and 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.
