Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), released the following statement on the ten-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder: 

“As a result of the disastrous Shelby County decision, it is more difficult for too many Americans to vote today—particularly people of color—than it was a decade ago. There are thousands of fewer polling locations, racially and partisan gerrymandered maps, inappropriate purges of voters, and more than 90 state laws that have been passed to make it more difficult for citizens to vote. Much of this could have been prevented if the Shelby County decision had not been handed down. America has changed—but not enough, and not in the right way. The Roberts Court, for ideological reasons, has made it harder for millions of Americans to exercise their constitutional right to vote and put at risk the electoral infrastructure that undergirds our democracy. 

“The United States Supreme Court has the power and responsibility to protect the rights of all Americans, not the privileged few. Instead, this now ethically-challenged body has too often in the recent past used that power to destroy, undermine, and weaken the constitutional rights of our fellow citizens. Congress, state legislatures and the American people can and must act to reverse this Court-facilitated, dangerous move away from the freedoms and democratic ideals that should guide the nation.” 

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