Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, Campaign Legal Center, Southern Poverty Law 2 Center Action Fund, Voters Organized to Educate, Voice of the Experienced, Louisiana Progress, Fair Districts Louisiana, E Pluribus Unum, Black Voters Matter Fund, Louisiana Budget Project, League of Women Voters of Louisiana, Urban League of Louisiana, and Crescent City Media Group sent a letter to the Louisiana House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees to highlight their obligation to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (“Section 2”) during this reapportionment and redistricting cycle when preparing a new district map to elect Louisiana’s six members of the United States House of Representatives. The letter urges the state legislature to consider its obligations under the Voting Rights Act and adopt a congressional map with two majority-minority districts to ensure Black voters’ right to an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. With the letter, the groups also submitted seven proposed maps that include two majority-minority districts.
Read the full letter here.
Learn more about LDF and coalition partners’ redistricting work in Louisiana 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.