Sierra Club Statement On Allen v. Milligan Supreme Court Ruling

Today, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Black voters in Allen v. Milligan, holding that Alabama’s racially gerrymandered 2021 voting map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits voting rules that result in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race.

As of Feb. 2023, state legislatures have introduced at least 150 bills this year that would restrict voting access, and over the past two years, states have enacted hundreds of laws that make it more difficult for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color as well as low-income communities to vote. Both the House and Senate are expected to reintroduce the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore and strengthen the full power of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as the Freedom To Vote Act this year, which would expand and protect the public’s access to fair and free elections and reign in corporate polluters’ destructive influence on our elections and law-making.

In response, Sierra Club Democracy Program Director Courtney Hight and Sierra Club Alabama Chapter Director Joi Travis issued the following statement:

“Today’s ruling is correct, appropriate, and a win for all Alabama voters and our democracy at large. Every American’s bedrock right to vote must be protected and upheld -- no matter their race, their zip code, or their income. The discriminatory and restrictive voting maps that disenfranchised voters of color in Alabama should have never been enacted in the first place.

“Despite today’s ruling, we know that the Voting Rights Act is far from safe. Many Republican state legislatures are wielding their influence to dilute the power of voters of color, and the Supreme Court’s prior decisions have weakened many of the key tools in the Voting Rights Act that combat those assaults on an inclusive and fair democracy. We need Congress to do their duty and swiftly pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom To Vote Act to protect and expand the VRA, our right to vote, and our democracy for generations to come.”