FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Statement from Southeast Asian Action and Southeast Asian Freedom Network on the U.S. Supreme Court Decision Weakening the Voting Rights Act
Southeast Asian Action (SEA Action) and Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN) are deeply concerned over the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that further weakens protections under the Voting Rights Act, one of the most important civil rights laws in our nation.
For decades, the Voting Rights Act has served as a safeguard against racial discrimination in our democracy by allowing communities to challenge racial vote dilution in redistricting. This decision undermines those protections at a time when communities of color, including Southeast Asian Americans who came to the US as refugees, already face significant barriers to political participation. The ruling makes it harder for our community as well as Black and Latino voters to challenge the already rampant use of gerrymandering to create district maps that benefit those in power.
Southeast Asian communities – Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, Vietnamese, and others – include many first-generation voters, elders with limited English proficiency, and families still navigating complex systems shaped by displacement and resettlement. To consider race is to acknowledge that there is inequity in political power and it must be addressed in order to improve access and fairness.
“Our communities rely on strong federal protections to ensure fair access to the ballot. It is appalling to see the use of race-blind rhetoric to preserve majority power and hide discrimination behind neutral language. Ignoring race does not make maps fair if the outcome is to reduce our ability to elect candidates that truly represent us.” said Pheng Thao, Co-Director of SEA Action.
Co-Founder Kabzuag Vaj added, “This decision does not exist in a vacuum. It compounds longstanding inequities faced by marginalized communities, including Black, Indigenous, Latino, and immigrant populations, whose political voices have historically been silenced or diluted. A democracy that fails to protect its most disenfranchised voters is a democracy that fails us all.”
SEA-Action and SEAFN stand in solidarity with all communities fighting to protect and expand voting rights. We call on Congress and state leaders to take immediate action to restore and strengthen the protections of the Voting Rights Act, ensure language access at the polls, and invest in community-based voter education and engagement.
Chhaya Chhoum, Co-Director, emphasized, “A democracy that continues to be rooted in anti-blackness is a democracy that our people must fight to change. The victories of the Civil Right Movement laid the foundation for all of us, through blood, sweat and tears. This decision is outright racist. We will continue to organize, educate, and mobilize to ensure that Southeast Asian voices are heard and that our democracy lives up to its ideals.”