August 31, 2025

Greetings League Friends!

In August 2025, LWVLA has been celebrating a number of civic holidays, getting ready to unroll back-to-school registration events and monitoring litigation on redistricting, voter identification, and the new documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) law in effect in Louisiana.

Many people in Louisiana have been following the mid-cycle redistricting story in Texas. But Louisiana continues to be at the center of national voting rights and redistricting litigation with the Louisiana v. Callais case. The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue an opinion in its June term, but it will rehear the case on October 15. On August 1, it handed down its orders for arguments to be made—and they appear to be taking aim squarely at Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. There was, however, a recent win for fair state legislative maps in a separate case before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.


August 6, 2025, was the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which is now coming under new threats. The League continues to support passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to keep the VRA going and protect voting rights. The following week, August 12, 2025, was National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, and you can still sign up at powerthepolls.org/lwv. Election workers are the heroes who power our democracy. August 18, 2025, was the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment through which many, but not all, women in Louisiana gained the right to vote. August 26,2025 was Women’s (In)Equality Day commemorating the adoption of the 19th Amendment and the struggle for women’s rights that continues today.

There are new rumblings about repealing the 19th Amendment, or making it inconvenient for women to vote—say, through a federal SAVE Act requiring married women who have taken their spouse’s name and others whose name on their driver’s license or state I.D. does not match the name on their birth certificate to have a third form of identification, such as a passport, to vote. The federal SAVE Act has not yet passed, so there is still time to contact U.S. Senators.

Speaking of identification, do you know how Louisiana plans to enforce its own documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) law, that is our state version of the SAVE Act? We don’t–and we are suing to find out. The League is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit in progress to require the state to tell us how it will enforce the law, so that we can provide voters with the most correct and up-to-date information. We believe that it is the responsibility of the state to provide clear and transparent information about voting and election laws.

Immigration issues have been a concern for many of our members in Louisiana, both as a moral response to federal ICE enforcement excesses and out of concern to protect our neighbors and voters in Louisiana. We have been expressing our views at rallies, protesting at the Jena ICE Detention Center, and pursuing ways to help migrants and even naturalized citizens in our communities. At its July 27 meeting, the LWVLA State Board also voted unanimously to pass the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia’s “Resolution Supporting Statehood for the People of DC,” just weeks before the deployment of federal troops.

The “Unite & Rise 8.5” campaign to register, educate, and activate 8.5 million voters continues—and Louisiana is seeking to reach 160,000 Louisiana voters before the 2026 midterm elections. As always, if you’re not with us yet as a League member, join us, tell your friends, and consider a donation to fund our work.

In League,
Your LWVLA State Board

Upcoming Events in September:

  • September 16, National Voter Registration Day
  • September 17, Constitution Day
  • September 18, Invest in Louisiana Policy Conference
  • September 23-24, Louisiana Center for Health Equity Annual Health Summit