Blog

March 26^th marks the anniversary of the landmark Rucho v. League of Women Voters of North Carolina (also known as Rucho v. Common Cause) Supreme Court oral arguments. The Supreme Court's ultimate decision, that federal courts cannot make determinations on partisan gerrymandering, would have major consequences for representation across our democracy.

We spoke with Allison Riggs, who was chosen to represent the plaintiffs and argued the case before the Supreme Court. Now, Riggs, who is now co-executive director and chief counsel for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, gives us her first-hand account of what happened in the courts.

COVID-19 brought pain, loss, and loneliness, but in the case of our democracy, it also brought important lessons. We saw firsthand how we could make our democracy available to more voters, honoring the voices of low-income, BIPOC, disabled, and other Americans. We must build on this knowledge and not waste it or use it to restrict the voter further.

In the US, most people take for granted that ample food and clean water are, and will be, available for consumption. Yet climate change has already impacted food and water resources here and around the world.

With the new year comes more litigation. In the past year, the League has continued our work of fighting against anti-voter bills and purges, challenges to new district maps, and pushing back against the increased attacks on reproductive rights. Here are a handful of the issues you may want to keep an eye on in 2022. 

Our Semi-Annual Survey Project is a central component of transforming our culture. Our most recent survey, in the Fall of 2021, provided important information on Leagues’ activities, partnerships, legislative priorities, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Here’s is what we are learning.

Our March 3 panel brought together a group of empowering women leaders: Amanda Brown Lierman, SuperMajority executive director; Sindy M. Benavides, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) CEO, LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS). 

The pro-voter Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 moved quickly through Congress with strong bipartisan support. The speed of passage showed our country’s bipartisan support of voting rights, support which has dwindled in recent years -- as seen with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

On March 7, 1965, hundreds of civil rights protestors attempted to march the 50 miles between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama to protest the suppression of Black votes. In this blog, we honor the work of the women who participated in this historic act.

Gather your friends and join us on Twitter or Instagram for our annual game of SOTU Bingo. Download a card and tag us when you have bingo. 

This year’s SOTU is on March 1 will be the first given by President Biden. And while the President is sure to comment on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, his pending nomination to the Supreme Court, and the economy, there are other issues the League would also like him to address, such as maintaining the health and safety of our democracy by continuing to push for voting rights protections.