Republican Attorneys General Continue To Threaten Our Democracy
Republican attorneys general pose an ongoing threat to democracy as they continue their attempts to weaken the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and more. In their latest coordinated attack on voting rights and the fight for fair maps, 14 Republican attorneys general signed on to a “friend of the court brief” arguing that unfair legislative maps in Louisiana should stand.
Out of the 32 Republican attorneys general across the country, almost half want Louisiana’s legislative maps — which were found to dilute the voting power of the state’s Black voters — to stand.
The brief is authored by Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. In five of these states, courts have struck down Republican-drawn maps for violating Section 2 of the VRA and diluting the voting power of minority voters, which either already has resulted in or will result in new maps in those places.
The collection of Republican officials — who are tasked with the enforcement of their own state’s laws — argue that Lousisiana’s state House and Senate maps should not have been struck down and that the court’s interpretation of Section 2 of the VRA is unconstitutional.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) and others argued that Section 2 is unconstitutional because it calls for an unacceptable use of race in remedying violations, an argument that is similar to the one Republicans pushed to end affirmative action. Republicans have been pushing this argument as part of their relentless attempt to weaken and/or destroy what is left of the VRA in the hope that voters will not have any way to remedy the unfair maps that Republicans themselves continuously draw.
According to Democracy Docket’s internal tracking, all of the Republican attorneys general on this brief have also supported the right-wing theory that Section 2 does not have a private right of action, arguing that voters should not have the ability to sue to fight unfair maps.
Republican attorneys general continue to threaten our democracy in a multitude of other ways. 18 Republican attorneys general signed onto a brief arguing that former President Trump should have absolute immunity, 27 have supported efforts to weaken the VRA. Attorneys general have an incredible influence on the stability of our democracy. This year, ten states have attorney general races on the ballot: Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.