1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I’m writing to demand that Congress act legislatively to restore private enforcement of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act before conservative courts finish gutting it entirely. The Eighth Circuit has now ruled that individual voters have no right to bring Section 2 cases at all — stripping tens of millions of voters in seven states of their most practical tool against racial discrimination in elections. This isn't interpretation. It's demolition of civil and voting rights. The 1982 amendments to the VRA explicitly reference "an aggrieved person" bringing suit, and over 165 cases have been won under that standard. Yet a Trump-appointed judge dismissed an NAACP lawsuit challenging Arkansas's district maps — even while acknowledging the plaintiffs had "a strong merits case" — solely because he decided they had no right to sue. Justice Gorsuch opened this door in Brnovich v. DNC by calling private enforcement an "open question," and lower courts are now walking through it. Combined with Shelby County gutting preclearance, the VRA is being hollowed out case by case. I urge you to create and then work to pass legislation explicitly codifying the private right of action under Section 2. The 15th Amendment's promise means nothing if only the federal government can enforce it — and this federal government won't. Voters need the ability to defend their own rights in court. That ability is disappearing, and Congress is the only institution left that can stop it. Act now. Pass it as soon as practicable. Thank you.