ACLU Supporter –

During what we know is an exhausting time for civil liberties, we at the ACLU wanted to remind you that our work for fair redistricting maps remains steadfast right now.

Why is this so important?

First, we know that the Supreme Court's recent decision in Alabama – to temporarily halt a lower court's ruling that the state redraw its racially discriminatory and grossly gerrymandered congressional map – has given us all pause, especially given how it might impact the strength of the Voting Rights Act.

Make no mistake, our challenge in Alabama continues. Full stop. But the significance of our fight for fair representation across the country goes far beyond that.

Gerrymandering – at its core – undermines your voting power, your right to choose your representatives. It limits who is a part of our democratic process, how they get to participate, and when their participation counts. And for centuries, lawmakers have used this tactic to deprive Black and Brown voters of political power especially.

That's what's happening right now. And that's why our crucial fight against these unconstitutional maps is so important – especially as we get closer to the midterms and beyond.

So please get up-to-speed on our latest redistricting developments from the past few weeks – and know that activism and support like yours make this progress possible:

• First, in Arkansas, we appealed a federal court's outrageous dismissal of our case requesting the state redraw its new House map. The court's ruling rejects decades of Supreme Court precedent by declaring private individuals like our plaintiffs can't sue to protect their voting rights under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The map itself would split Black communities and neighborhoods in a way that significantly dilutes voting power. That's why we won't let up until it's blocked.
• Following our lawsuit in Georgia, a federal court has ruled that the newly drawn state House and Senate maps likely violate the Voting Rights Act, but are allowed to take effect for the upcoming 2022 elections as the lawsuit proceeds because the elections are too close to make changes. The Georgia General Assembly should have drawn at least a half-dozen additional new Black-majority districts in light of the tremendous growth of the state's Black population but failed to do so. That's why our legal challenge won't stop here. We demonstrated that the General Assembly's maps likely violate the Voting Rights Act and we'll prove it at trial.
• Meanwhile, in Kansas, our affiliate has filed a new lawsuit in state District Court in Wyandotte County seeking to block the recently enacted congressional redistricting map. This new map is a partisan and racial gerrymander – slicing the most racially diverse county in the state in half in an attempt to dilute the voices of the voters who live there.
• In Louisiana, lawmakers have approved new congressional and state legislative maps that violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because they dilute Black Louisianans' votes. Our advocates and organizers are working nonstop with partners, activists, and constituents on the ground to urge the Governor to veto these maps and provide fair representation for people of color.
• Finally, the ACLU of Maryland and partners secured a victory in a Voting Rights Act legal challenge against racially discriminatory redistricting plans in Baltimore County. A federal court blocked implementation of the County's plan and ordered the County to submit a new plan that complies with the Voting Rights Act to be implemented in time for 2022 elections.

ACLU Supporter, the midterm elections will no doubt be impacted by the results of these newly drawn maps we're fighting for right now – but the larger fact remains that redistricting now will determine the weight of all our votes for the next decade.

That's why our legal, advocacy, and organizing teams are here – and we are not losing focus in the critical work to defend everyone's equal access to the ballot, to fair representation in our democracy, and to all our most crucial civil rights.

Stay posted for more critical updates ahead and stay in the fight.

Thanks for your activism,

The ACLU Team