Eric Holder Sounds Alarm on Efforts to Dismantle Louisiana’s New Congressional Map

For Immediate Release
February 6, 2024
Contact
Brooke Lillard
Lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. – A group of Black voters in Louisiana are intervening in a lawsuit that would dismantle one of the two new Black opportunity districts in the state's congressional map.

The voters, also known as the Galmon movants, were one of the plaintiff groups in Robinson v. Ardoin, a federal lawsuit that successfully overturned Louisiana’s previous congressional map for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and led to the creation of an additional Black opportunity district. Success in Louisiana was made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Allen v. Milligan decision, which reaffirmed Section 2 of the VRA. Both challenges were initiated by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC).

Specifically, the Galmon movants filed a motion to intervene in Callais v. Landry, a lawsuit that was filed by individual voters that, if successful, would dismantle Louisiana’s new Black opportunity district, which was passed just last month under court order.

The NRF, an organization that initiated Robinson v. Ardoin in 2022, is continuing to support the Galmon movants to protect Louisiana’s representative map.

Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, released the following statement:

“After years of disenfranchisement, Black Louisianans, who make up one-third of the state’s population, finally have the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice in one-third of the state’s congressional districts—what commonsense would lead us all to consider equal representation, and what federal law requires. But there are anti-democratic forces who remain set on reversing this progress and we are committed to fighting them every step of the way.

“The recent challenge against Louisiana’s new representative map is yet another attempt to weaken the Voting Rights Act, and it underscores the perpetual nature of the fight for equal representation.

“Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Allen v. Milligan, we have seen progress in places once thought to be unreachable in the fight for fairness. But that progress has not come easily. Legislatures have openly attempted to defy court orders. Anti-democratic voices at the national level have continued to push for gerrymandered maps. At each turn, we have used every tool at our disposal and prevented these anti-democratic forces from prevailing.

“We cannot allow a sordid part of American history to be repeated. Yet again, anti-democracy forces must be stopped.”

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