Washington, D.C. — Today, in commemoration of the 59th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) released a video lifting up the landmark law and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Allen v. Milligan, which led to representative maps in Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Eric H. Holder Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the NDRC, released the following statement on the 59th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law on August 6, 1965:

“To this day, the Voting Rights Act remains the most effective law in the country to protect the right to vote. Its enforcement over the past year alone has led to more representative maps in places once thought to be unreachable in the fight for equal representation, including Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama.

“Yet, anti-democratic forces are just as determined today as they were during the Jim Crow era to dismantle these protections in order to suppress the votes of American citizens. The fact is, there is not a single law in the books that provides the same level of protection for the voting rights of communities of color; that is precisely why the Voting Rights Act is targeted—underscoring the need to reinstate it in its entirety.

“Today, in honor of those who sacrificed themselves for our right to vote, we must resolve to do more to protect and strengthen it. That starts by voting and electing leaders who support the right to vote rather than suppress it. In order to protect democracy, we must all do democracy.”

###