In 1943, LDF founder Thurgood Marshall argued before the Supreme Court in Smith v. Allwright. This #voting rights case was a watershed for Black rights and signaled the beginning of the civil rights movement. Marshall considered it his "greatest" case. #HBD #MrCivilRights
The question at the heart of this case was whether state parties prohibiting Black voters from exercising their freedoms in the primary elections violated the 14th and 15th amendments. #SCOTUS found that it did. As a result of this case, Black voter registration skyrocketed.
Of course, Smith v. Allwright was only one step. Ugly displays of voter suppression still mar our elections. The floodgates have opened to a torrent of voter suppression since the #ShelbyCounty decision in 2013 and today's #COVID19 pandemic has only exacerbated these issues.
At LDF, we uphold our founder's legacy of fighting #voter suppression through voting rights litigation & our #PreparedtoVote (PtV) effort. PtV provides materials on voting laws in targeted jurisdictions so voters can cast ballots with confidence that they will be counted.
Still, Congress must also play its part in ensuring that voters can safely exercise their right to vote this year. But election integrity bills like the #HEROESAct and #SHIELDAct sit in the Senate.
Today, in honor of Thurgood Marshall, we call upon Senators to act.
The #VRAA, designed to restore power to the #VotingRightsAct, also sits in the Senate.
We can’t afford another election like Wisconsin or Georgia--join us in lifting up Thurgood Marshall's #voting rights legacy by calling your Senators today! #HBD #MrCivilRights
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