Statement: Trammell Pledges New Voting Rights Division In Wake of Supreme Court Decision Gutting Voting Rights Act

Luthersville, Georgia — Today, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority began the final demolition of the most important civil rights law in our nation’s history. The Court’s decision swings open the doors to more frequent and more dangerous attacks on voting rights here in Georgia. By crippling Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act today, the Court has sent a clear message that the federal government is stepping back from its duty to protect minority voters from the systemic dilution of their political power.

In Georgia, we know what this ruling means: more attacks on voting rights. It means the maps that define our representation in the political process are now more vulnerable than ever to the whims of the powerful, from Congress to the General Assembly to county commissions and city councils. Even now, Republican candidates for statewide office here are calling for a special session to redraw Congressional maps for their political gain.

It means that the tools of voter suppression such as closures of polling locations, polling relocations, and changes to early voting times are all unleashed as pernicious anti-democratic possibilities.

This ruling places the office of the Georgia Attorney General directly on the front line of defense for our democracy. 

This is why, as your Attorney General, my first act will be to establish a dedicated Voting Rights Division to protect the rights of every Georgian. We need an office that will proactively monitor local election changes and use every legal tool in the arsenal to challenge the dilution of political power. Our right to vote is on the ballot this November, and we must elect a protector who treats the aftermath of today’s ruling as the emergency it is.