Voters wait in line to cast their ballots outside a polling station on the Navajo Nation in Fort Defiance, Ariz., on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
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Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, the very protections that marched Americans from Selma to the ballot box are hanging by a thread.
Today marks the 60th anniversary, and under President Donald Trump’s second administration, the Justice Department has pulled back on enforcement.
In this Aug. 6, 1965, photo, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Aug. 6, 1965, in a ceremony in the President’s Room at the U.S. Capitol Washington. Surrounding the president from left directly above his right hand, Vice President Hubert Humphrey; House Speaker John McCormack; Rep. Emanuel Celler, D-N.Y.; first daughter Luci Johnson; and Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill. Behind Humphrey is House Majority Leader Carl Albert of Oklahoma; and behind Celler is Sen. Carl Hayden, D-Ariz. (AP Photo)
Courts are now questioning whether everyday people — not just the government — can sue when their voting rights are violated.
If the Supreme Court rules against a private right of action, communities of color may have no legal recourse.
That would mean no way to challenge racial gerrymandering — like what’s happening in Texas — rising voter suppression, or unfair election maps.
It’s dangerous, especially as the Department of Justice has dismantled its civil rights unit and Republicans have pushed federal ID laws targeting Black, brown, Native and immigrant voters.
What is left if Americans can’t even defend their own right to vote?
White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.
