Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case addressing whether intentionally establishing a second majority-minority congressional district to remedy a Voting Rights Act violation contravenes the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In September 2025, Attorney General Bonta and 22 other attorneys general filed an amicus brief emphasizing the importance of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in preventing race-based vote dilution and protecting the electoral power of communities of color. 

“Today’s decision is deeply disappointing. Since 1965, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has helped ensure that all Americans, regardless of their race, have an equal opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” said Attorney General Bonta. “While the full impact of this ruling is still uncertain, we know from past experience that decisions striking down, or effectively gutting, provisions of the Voting Rights Act are often followed by new state laws that restrict access to the ballot for voters of color. My fellow attorneys general and I strongly opposed the weakening of Section 2, and we continue to believe in the importance of fair representation.”