For Immediate Release
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice today released public testimony its president and CEO Ashley K. Shelton gave to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. The testimony, which is copied below, makes clear the importance of an equitable and fair districting process. It was delivered before the Louisiana Senate voted down Sen. Cleo Fields’ congressional redistricting map and prior to the Louisiana House voting down Rep. Randal Gaines’ congressional redistricting map. Those proposals included two minority-majority districts, something Black voters in the state advocated for.
Good Morning, Speaker of the House and Members of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. My name is Ashley Kennedy Shelton, and I am the Founder, President and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. I join you here today to speak on behalf of the state and the people I love.
I often say, “everything I love is in this place and that is why I fight for it.” The criteria for the redistricting process is clear, we must first comply with the Federal law which includes the Voting Rights Act, Section Two. Louisiana has the 2nd largest Black population in the country and this map does not create additional majority-minority districts beyond the 29 we already have, which very likely violates Section 2 of the VRA. Speaker, you mention tradition and keeping your decisions in line with the elected officials who came before you…however, those that came before you have allowed and have maintained significant racial gerrymandering. We know that there is an opportunity for Louisiana to add at least 9 additional majority-minority seats, we understand and find it unfortunate that because of the political reality in our state this will not happen. I want to be clear however that the people of Louisiana deserve Representation and not merely “protection.” You cannot protect anyone that does not have a voice or an elected leader willing to give them voice.
This process will determine voice and representation for the next ten years and whether our communities grow because there is true voice and representation. We have been engaging in voter engagement for the last five years, and what I know is that our engagement work of a universe of 500,000 to 800,000 has consistently shown 62% or more of our universe turns out to vote. This makes several things clear to me…that when engaged, minority voters vote! We also know that having candidates that excite them also moves people to the polls.
It feels important to acknowledge that in this process all maps had to include no split precincts. In meeting the letter of the law, we must first comply with federal law, the VRA Section Two, then state law…and by forcing no precincts be split, has impacted map drawing and voices of communities of color.
In closing, Louisiana is the second poorest state in the country and failing at most quality of life indicators clearly, our elected leaders at every level of government have work to do…and in talking to your constituents all over this state, I am always struck by how we don’t differ much on the things that are important to us. It is however not lost on me or the voters of this state that there is a clear disconnect between our voices and values and the types of policies moved by our elected leaders.
For more information or to speak with Shelton, contact press@spotlightpr.org.
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