The California Native Vote Project (CNVP) condemns the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, where the Supreme Court essentially nullified Section 2 of the VRA, making it difficult to challenge map dilution and racial discrimination. The decision narrows tools long used to challenge voting maps that dilute the political power of communities of color, and places American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Latino/e and other historically excluded communities at greater risk of disenfranchisement in elections for Congress, state legislatures and local government.
“This ruling is an attack on multiracial democracy,” said Chrissie Castro, Executive Director of CNVP. “When courts weaken voting rights protections, they strengthen systems that silence Native communities and the broader coalition of voters of color this democracy depends on.”
For Native peoples, the consequences run deep. Native communities have faced generations of exclusion from the ballot box through voter suppression, vote dilution, packing, splitting and other systemic barriers. The Voting Rights Act has been one of the most important legal tools Native communities have used to challenge that discrimination — including landmark cases in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, the Dakotas, and beyond. While Native organizers have won meaningful progress, today’s decision threatens to roll back the very protections that made those wins possible.
In California, Native communities are diverse, growing and civically engaged — yet they remain politically fragmented across counties, cities and legislative districts. Native voters are routinely overlooked in outreach, undercounted in data, and excluded from policy decisions affecting tribal citizens, urban Native families and youth. Today’s ruling makes that fragmentation harder to fix, because it weakens the legal mechanisms communities have used to challenge maps and policies that erase them.
CNVP believes representation does not happen by accident. It requires laws, accountability and community participation.
“This ruling makes it easier to draw maps that protect power instead of people, and harder for Native communities to challenge it,” said Calvin Hedrick, Director of Policy, Training and Tribal Relations at CNVP. “It shifts power away from our communities, which means fewer protections and a harder fight. It forces us to change how we organize and learn how to build power in different ways.”
The decision underscores the urgency of CNVP’s mission to build Native political power across California through voter engagement, leadership development, policy advocacy, research, and organizing on education, health, housing and other community priorities.
“We’ve never relied on the courts for our strength. We rely on our people,” said Hedrick. “It comes from our people organizing, voting and standing together to build power. We will continue fighting for a future where Native voices are heard, respected and impossible to ignore.”
What You Can Do
Californians who want to defend Native voting power can take action today:
- Sign up for civic engagement and organizing trainings at www.canativevote.org/get-involved.
- Support CNVP’s work with a donation at www.canativevote.org/donate.
About California Native Vote Project
Founded in 2016, the California Native Vote Project (CNVP) is a Native-led, statewide organization advancing justice and self-determination for Native American communities across California. Through year-round organizing, nonpartisan civic engagement, leadership development, policy advocacy and research, CNVP builds multigenerational political power across tribal and urban Native communities. By strengthening the Native organizing ecosystem and preparing emerging leaders and Native youth to shape policy and public decision-making, CNVP ensures Native voices are not only heard, but are driving change across civic, health, and governance systems. Learn more at www.canativevote.org.