CHICAGO – A federal court ruled today that state legislative redistricting plans adopted by the Illinois General Assembly and signed on June 4 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are malapportioned and unconstitutional. The decision will...
Read MoreEL PASO, TEXAS – A Latino legal rights organization is suing Texas state officials over newly adopted redistricting maps that violate the federal Voting Rights Act and dilute the voting strength of Latino voters, according to a...
Read MoreCHICAGO – An Illinois redistricting plan approved by Gov. J.B. Pritzker is unconstitutional and violates the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, according to an updated lawsuit filed last week by a Latino civil rights...
Read MoreSAN ANTONIO – A voting bill that will make it harder for Texans, particularly voters of color, to cast their ballots is unconstitutional and violates federal voting rights law because it diminishes access to the ballot box,...
Read MoreLOS ANGELES – Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) issued the following statement in response to today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brnovich v DNC that...
Read MoreCHICAGO – The Illinois legislature’s decision to direct elections officials to use legislative redistricting plans that rely on population estimates rather than decennial Census data is unconstitutional, according to a...
Read MoreCHICAGO – A federal court has rejected a request by Arkansas and local county officials to dismiss a lawsuit challenging sections of the state election code that disenfranchise voters who are not proficient in English. The...
Read MoreFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A civil rights organization asked a federal district court to block sections of the Arkansas Election Code because it disenfranchises voters who are not proficient in English, according to a new lawsuit...
Read MoreGreenbelt, MD – Civil rights groups asked a federal court on Monday to prevent the Trump administration from ending the 2020 Census count more than a month early. Attorneys with MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and...
Read MoreGreenbelt, MD – Civil rights groups are expanding an ongoing 2019 federal lawsuit to include claims against the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to cut short the 2020 Census and to exclude some individuals from the...
Read More(LOS ANGELES ) – Officials in Yakima County, Washington must change the system and maps used to elect county commissioners or risk a federal lawsuit, according to a letter sent by a Latino civil rights organization. MALDEF...
Read MoreBUENA PARK, Calif. — The Buena Park Library District (BPLD) must change its system for electing its board of trustees or risk being sued for violating the California Voting Rights Act, according to a letter sent today by a...
Read MoreTUSTIN, Calif. — The City of Tustin must change its system for electing city council members or risk being sued for violating the California Voting Rights Act, according to a letter sent today by a Latino civil rights...
Read MoreLOS ANGELES – The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to consider a challenge to the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The High Court’s denial of certiorari brings an end to a federal lawsuit filed by the Project on Fair...
Read MorePASADENA, CA – A federal court of appeals today rejected a challenge to the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) brought by a former mayor of the City of Poway. The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth...
Read MoreWASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives of leading civil rights organizations testified in two U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearings yesterday about the need to expand and strengthen the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA)...
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Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund