Today’s Supreme Court Decision
Opening the door for politicians to further manipulate district lines, silence voters, and undermine the foundation of our democracy
LITTLE ROCK – Today the US Supreme Court of Justice Roberts effectively gutted the last remnants of the Voting Rights Act and declared a new era of unlimited partisan gerrymandering that will harm Arkansas and our Nation. The decision requires a new standard of proof that politicians had an explicitly racist bias in drawing district lines–something that any competent politician can mask.
The Arkansas Public Policy Panel and Citizens First Congress believe we should judge politicians on what they do and how they either help or harm our communities, not on their supposed rationale for their actions.
This ruling dramatically increases the odds that Arkansas politicians will manipulate legislative district lines to marginalize Black and Brown voters, along with anyone who does not adhere to the views of Arkansas’ political majority. Arkansas already has a problem with politicians choosing their voters, rather than voters choosing their lawmakers – and this decision pours gasoline on that problem.
The Panel and CFC have worked on voting rights since our founding in 1963. Most recently we worked with the Arkansas League of Women Voters and other allies to support a ballot measure to create a non-partisan, independent redistricting commission in 2020. The Arkansas Supreme Court denied Arkansas voters an opportunity to vote on that measure with an 11th-hour ruling to disqualify the measure over an outrageous technicality that the Court later ruled unconstitutional.
The Panel and the CFC have also worked with our members, allies, and voters across Arkansas to comment extensively on Arkansas’ 2020 redistricting process. When the state ignored almost all public comments and approved legislative districts that were blatantly partisan, while marginalizing Black and Brown voters in process, we joined Arkansas ACLU and NAACP Arkansas State Conference to sue the State for the first time in our 63 year history.
The Panel released a 2020 report on how Arkansas’ redistricting process works, how it can be manipulated through cracking and packing voters, and how reforms could make the process more fair and transparent. You can find it at ARPanel.org. Black voters make up more than 15% of Arkansas population, but only 11% of Arkansas’ state legislative districts were drawn to where Black voters had a reasonable chance of electing candidates of their choice. Today’s decision will further stress this issue.
“Today’ s decision is a disgrace,” said Kymara Seals, Policy Director of the Panel and CFC. “Our people have died for the right to vote and equal representation under the law, but the US Supreme Court just wiped all of those sacrifices and years of struggle away to satisfy their partisan desires. But our struggle is not over –this is just the latest reminder that we have to stand up for our rights, and that Arkansas and the whole Nation needs an independent redistricting process free of political games and that is fair to all voters.”
“This decision is not just a legal setback—it is a direct threat to the voice and power of everyday Arkansans and the very principle of We the People,” said Barry Jefferson, President of the NAACP Arkansas State Conference, a member organization of CFC. “For generations, Black and Brown communities have fought tirelessly for fair representation and equal access to the ballot. Today’ s ruling opens the door for politicians to further manipulate district lines, silence voters, and undermine the foundation of our democracy. We the People must stand together in this moment. The NAACP Arkansas State Conference remains committed to protecting voting rights, holding leaders accountable, and ensuring that every Arkansan’ s voice is heard and respected.”
“This decision is wrong and shows how far many politicians and judges will bend to play partisan games with our sacred right to vote,” said Bill Kopsky, Director of the Panel and CFC. “The People of Arkansas need the ability to make decisions like these ourselves and hold politicians accountable. It’ s another illustration of why we need to pass the Ballot Measure Rights Amendment this year so Arkansas voters have the opportunity to reform our redistricting process to make it independent and fair in the future.”