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On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. Below is a statement from RepresentWomen Founder and Executive Director Cynthia Richie Terrell.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais is a serious setback for voting rights and the women whose political representation has been strengthened by the structural safeguards this decision has now effectively dismantled. By reinstating an intent standard that Congress explicitly rejected in 1982, the Court has hollowed out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act without formally striking it down. As Justice Kagan warned in dissent, the provision is now ‘all but a dead letter.’
The consequences for women’s representation are real and immediate. RepresentWomen’s research shows that up to 36 majority-minority districts could face redistricting pressure in the wake of this ruling — 12 of which are currently represented by women in the House of Representatives. We do not yet know how states will respond, but we know that women of color in Congress, and the communities they serve, now face profound uncertainty. When election structures change, women are disproportionately affected. That is not speculation. It is what the data show, again and again.
The VRA was always about more than the ballot. It was about the right to elect candidates of choice and to be represented. That principle has not expired, but the federal legal framework supporting it has been gravely weakened, and the responsibility to act now falls to the states. State-level Voting Rights Acts are the most immediate and meaningful line of defense available. Maryland became the ninth state to pass one just this month. RepresentWomen testified before the Vermont Senate earlier this year in support of its own State VRA. More states must follow, and quickly.
Today is a heartbreaking day. Less than 24 hours ago, many members of the democracy movement gathered to honor the life and legacy of Lani Guinier — a dear friend and woman who understood, perhaps better than anyone, that the right to vote means nothing without the right to real representation. That is exactly what was at stake today. Her vision of a democracy designed so that every voice could not just be heard, but actually matter, has not expired. It now falls to all of us to honor it.”
— Cynthia Richie Terrell, Founder and Executive Director, RepresentWomen
