Washington voting rights advocates say a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling could disenfranchise voters of color and open the door to gutting the federal Voting Rights Act.

The ruling for Louisiana v. Callais will be released soon, which will determine if race can be considered when drawing voting districts, even to correct proven discrimination.

Nilu Jenks, political and partnerships director for Fair Vote Washington, said the Voting Rights Act has long been used to ensure that communities of color can elect their preferred candidates through the creation of majority-minority districts.

"This is a fundamentally important decision to the very fabric of how much change has happened in our nation since 1965," she said. "These are rights that took generations to win. They can be undone by a handful of decisions."

Those challenging Louisiana's congressional map argue that race played too big a role in drawing its lines, going beyond what’s needed under the Voting Rights Act. Jenks warned that if the Supreme Court agrees, it could open the door to legal challenges across the country against districts meant to address discrimination, including in Washington. She added that if it's released soon, the decision could impact the primaries in the fall.

In 2014, Yakima County was found in violation of the Voting Rights Act for diluting the Latino vote through its countywide elections. The districts were redrawn in 2021 to create the county’s first Latino-majority district. Jenks said that district would likely come under scrutiny if the court sides against Louisiana.

"In our state, it would be especially the Latino community that would be impacted," she said. "It would make it harder for local communities of color to secure fair representation. They'd be disadvantaged."

Nilu said she's proud of the progress Washington has made in its voting systems, including implementing mail-in ballots and same-day registration. She called on lawmakers to continue to expand the state’s Voting Rights Act by adopting pre-clearance and ranked choice voting to help protect from what she called future federal threats.

Source: Public News Service