Southern voting rights advocates see rise in momentum after gutting of the Voting Rights Act

A month after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, voting rights advocates are sharpening their messaging.

The April 29 Callais ruling invalidated a majority-minority congressional district in Louisiana, prompting Republican-led legislatures in Tennessee, Alabama and Florida to rush to redraw congressional maps to be more favorable to their party ahead of the November midterm elections.

Sarah Ovaska with the Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement Network says this kind of “frenzied power grab” is not normal.

“And this has not happened without massive and widespread resistance,” said Ovaska in a Wednesday media briefing. “We have seen in Tennessee and Louisiana activists and protesters and organizers make sure that they are at the legislature to bear witness to what is happening, even when we had sessions going throughout the night.”



https://ncnewsline.com/2026/05/28/southern-voting-rights-advocates-see-rise-in-momentum-after-gutting-of-the-voting-rights-act/