Kamala Harris Says Voting Rights Fight Has Entered A New Phase
Former Vice President Kamala Harris joined Black women leaders this week to sharply criticize the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority after a ruling that weakened a major protection under the Voting Rights Act and opened the door for new congressional maps across the South.
Harris spoke Wednesday evening during an emergency virtual meeting hosted by Win With Black Women, a pro democracy grassroots movement made up of Black women leaders and organizers.
The meeting focused on the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a redistricting case that raised the legal standard for Black voters seeking to prove racial discrimination in congressional maps.
The ruling has already led Republican led states to move toward redrawing congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections, with majority Black districts becoming a direct target in several Southern states.
“What they are doing is they are back dooring racism behind politics to get to this decision and to justify what is happening in particular right now in all the southern states, and this is obviously a time for us to fight,” Harris told the group.
Supreme Court Ruling Puts Section 2 Protections Under Pressure
The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais centered on whether Louisiana’s congressional map, which included two majority Black districts, amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The decision has been described by voting rights advocates as a major blow to Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which has long been used to challenge maps that dilute the voting power of minority communities.
Harris said the ruling and the rapid response from Republican led states will likely activate Black voters and organizers across the country. She pointed to students at North Carolina A&T University, an HBCU, who protested the removal of a campus polling location.
“They took their polling place because they’re so afraid of the power of those young leaders to activate and to vote and to change the status quo and to topple some of these people from their perch. They’re so scared,” Harris said. “Gen Z, millennials, they’re not having it.”
The former California senator and attorney general said voting rights leaders should look to the Civil Rights era for direction, saying the ancestors “whose broad shoulders we stand” on have already shown what organized resistance looks like.
“I know the power is ours, and I know we’re not about to let anybody take our power from us,” Harris said.
Harris Calls For Supreme Court Reform And Electoral College Changes
Harris, who has not ruled out another presidential run in 2028, also laid out a wider list of political reforms she believes Democrats and pro democracy leaders should consider. Those ideas included Supreme Court reform, expanding the high court, changing the Electoral College, discussing multi member districts and revisiting statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
“There’s going to be some risks that we’re going to have to assume along with that, but we need to be prepared to be able to handle that,” Harris said.
She said Democrats should be open to a “no bad ideas” conversation about structural reforms, especially as the Supreme Court faces historically low public approval and continued scrutiny over ethics standards.
“And in that no bad ideas brainstorm, we talk about what we need to do and think about doing around the Electoral College. We talk about the idea of Supreme Court reform, which includes expanding the Supreme Court,” Harris said. “We invite a conversation about multi members districts…let’s talk about statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C.”
Related: What To Know As Southern States Rush To Redraw Maps
Democrats Urged To Respond Aggressively But Legally
Harris also said that if Democrats regain control of the U.S. Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee should create rules to penalize Supreme Court nominees who lie before Congress during confirmation hearings. She also called for binding ethics rules for the nation’s highest court.
She argued that Democrats and voting rights advocates need to respond with the same level of urgency Republicans are showing in redistricting fights.
“We’ve got to neutralize these red states from cheating, including blue states expanding their maps,” Harris said. “These folks are playing to win. We got to play to win, too.”
Congressional voting maps Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
At the same time, Harris emphasized that Democrats should not break the law or abandon ethics in the process.
“We are never going to violate the law or do anything unethical or immoral, but we need to be ruthless too,” she said.
Harris ended by framing the moment as a political and moral fight over who holds power in the American democracy.
“This is a fight worth having. When you know what you know, what you stand for, you know what to fight for,” Harris said. “When you feel powerless, you are powerless. When you feel powerful, you are powerful. We are powerful. And yes, the fight just got more difficult…[but] we are up for a good fight because we know what’s at stake, and we know it’s worth it.”
