For Immediate Release
April 29, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT
Zo Tobi, Director of Communications
press@movementvoterfund.org
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a massive blow to the already-weakened Voting Rights Act. The Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais will give a boost to Southern states in their ongoing efforts to dilute the power of Black voters.
This ruling will open the door for more states to jump into the mid-decade redistricting battle that started last year and threatens to restrict voting representation of already marginalized communities.
“This ruling is a slap in the face for voters of color and a permission slip for Southern states to create maps which do not reflect their populations and further suppress the right to vote — and we’re going to do everything in our power to fight back,” said MVF Founder and Executive Director Billy Wimsatt. “This ruling is an insult to decades of work by our country’s civil rights leaders, and makes it much easier for politicians to choose their voters instead of the other way around. It’s just one more in a long line of attacks on our rights and attempts to exclude people of color from having a fair say in our democracy. MVF is moving fast to send funds to our partner organizations in the South who are ready to fight back.”
MVF is moving fast to send funds to our partner organizations in the South who are ready to fight back.
States most impacted by this ruling — especially in the South — are not new to fighting racist voter suppression tactics, including a slew of restrictive laws passed after unprecedented Black voter turnout in 2020. MVF partners have been leading the way, organizing in support of voting rights and building power — especially among Black Southerners — to turn out in huge numbers in recent years in states like Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
“I’ve lived and worked in the South my whole life, and we are all too familiar with this kind of backlash aimed at restricting Black voting power,” said MVF Southern Regional Field Director Jillian Johnson. “Just as Black voters in the South are showing up and fighting for our rights, this ruling comes down. That’s not a coincidence. But let me be clear: Southern organizers are ready. They have been in this fight for a long time. They have the numbers, they have the skills, and they have the strategy to fight back and organize for our future.”
MVF will immediately move funding to partners in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi who have been preparing for this moment for months. These groups are best positioned to organize their communities, fight for the rights of voters in the South, and mitigate the harm this ruling may cause.
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Movement Voter Fund funds local organizing and movement-building groups working to shift culture, expand democracy, and shape policy. MVF operates like a “mutual fund” for civic philanthropic giving: We raise money from donors, then channel it toward the most impactful organizations and power-building work around the country. Learn more: https://movementvoterfund.org/
