ACLU's Voting Rights Wins -- including at the Supreme Court

One year out from the 2024 elections, antidemocratic forces are intent on undermining and dismantling U.S. democracy. With these growing threats, the ACLU is deploying litigation challenging voter suppression and gerrymandering, along with strategies to protect our electoral integrity and empower voters to fight for their rights at the ballot box.

Voting Rights Wins:

- Alabama: You may recall that in June, the Supreme Court ruled in our favor in the case Allen v. Milligan, determining that Alabama's gerrymandered map violated the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by unfairly diluting Black political power. In response to the order requiring Alabama's state legislature to draw fairer maps, the legislature tried to pass a new map that would have been equally discriminatory. We went back to court and won yet again. In September, a federal court rejected this discriminatory map and ordered that a special master (no longer the state legislature) redraw the map to include two districts where Black voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

- Georgia: We have blocked two parts of Georgia's sweeping voter suppression law, SB 202. First, we blocked the ban on providing food and water to voters waiting in line more than 150 feet from a polling place. Second, we blocked the law requiring a birth date on mail-in ballot return envelopes, a technical requirement that violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both of these provisions place burdensome, unjustified, and unnecessary restrictions on voters, particularly voters of color, voters with disabilities, and other historically disenfranchised communities.

- Ohio: Millions of Ohio voters in August overwhelmingly rejected a partisan ballot measure that would have taken away majority rule and raised the threshold for passing citizen-initiated constitutional amendments from simple majority to over 60%.

- Texas: We succeeded in our challenge to Texas's broad voter suppression law, Senate Bill 1, which makes it harder for all Texans to vote. This means that Texas election officials no longer can reject mail ballots and applications for paperwork errors. During the last elections, this adversely impacted at least 40,000 voters.

Voting is a fundamental right. The ACLU will continue to fight to ensure the right to vote is equally accessible to everyone. But we can’t do it without you — become a Democracy Defender and join these fights with us: https://go.peoplepower.org/signup/democracy-defenders/

Thank you for your support!