Don’t miss Louisiana’s voter registration deadlines
Power Coalition and Partners Host a Baton Rouge Mayoral and 6th Congression District Candidate Form on September 19
Louisiana group wants people to register to vote, check registration before Nov. 5 election
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) —During the upcoming Presidential election, people living in inner cities and urban areas may be able to walk to their polling location; however, people with disabilities and rural residents have an extra barrier: transportation.
The nonprofit organization Power Coalition will offer “Power Rides” to help transport rural, disabled, and people without a car to and from the polls.
“One of the major things we see is that people who live in rural communities don’t necessarily have access to their voting sites,” shares Billy Anderson of the Power Coalition’s Northwestern Louisiana chapter.
He says, “Folks who live in rural communities struggle with that. We also have a population in Shreveport, in north Louisiana, who don’t necessarily have cars to get to their polling location.”
...Explainer: How accessible are the election polls?
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) —During the upcoming Presidential election, people living in inner cities and urban areas may be able to walk to their polling location; however, people with disabilities and rural residents have an extra barrier: transportation.
The nonprofit organization Power Coalition will offer “Power Rides” to help transport rural, disabled, and people without a car to and from the polls.
“One of the major things we see is that people who live in rural communities don’t necessarily have access to their voting sites,” shares Billy Anderson of the Power Coalition’s Northwestern Louisiana chapter.
He says, “Folks who live in rural communities struggle with that. We also have a population in Shreveport, in north Louisiana, who don’t necessarily have cars to get to their polling location.”
...Power Coalition for Equity and Justice to host community and faith leaders breakfast
Announcing the 2024 Women of the Year & Nonprofit Organizations
Honorees for the 2024 class of CityBusiness Women of the Year & Nonprofit Organizations have been selected.
Women of the Year recognizes women from the area whose successes in business and contributions to the community have made them movers and shakers in the region. CityBusiness also recognizes nonprofit organizations that have gone above and beyond in serving the needs of local women and/or children.
This year’s Women of the Year honorees include Ashley K. Shelton and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.
All honorees will be celebrated from 4-6 p.m. Monday, November 4, at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Register for the event at https://web.cvent.com/event/15572975-ee82-40de-be89-55f6f6e16260/register. A publication profiling the honorees will be inserted into the November 15 issue of CityBusiness.
...Power Coalition offers $2.5K and free breakfast; what you need to know
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—This Saturday, the Power Coalition, a nonprofit organization, will host a complimentary breakfast for the public and faith leaders to educate and empower voters for this upcoming presidential election.
Power Coalition details faith leaders are also eligible for a $2.5K ‘mini-grant’ to raise voter engagement.
“Our goal is to: one, feed people a delicious breakfast and two, educate the people of the upcoming election on November 5th,” shares Billy Anderson, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice’s Northern Louisiana Organizer.
Power Coalition says this presidential election is critical for Shreveport residents as they could be a part of the new majority-minority District 6.
Anderson shares that faith leaders and churches have played a pivotal role and have historically been the focal point for community voter engagement.
...Step Up Louisiana Announces Once-in-a-Generation Investment in Grassroots Organizing
NEW ORLEANS — Step Up Louisiana announced a “once in a generation” investment in grassroots organizing in the Deep South. The Fall for Liberation is an organizing drive that will train 50 Southeast Louisiana residents on community, labor and electoral organizing. With plans to knock on more than 100,000 doors and have thousands of conversations with workers and voters in our communities, the project has the potential to reshape upcoming elections in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
Drawing inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Summer, the Fall for Liberation seeks to build on the legacy of other movements like the Fight for $15 that have used a large-scale investment in organizing capacity to win rights and raises for working class Louisianans. Despite the victories of these movements, Black Louisianans live 8% shorter lives than white Louisianans, and Black residents in communities with industrial plants experience seven to 21 times more toxic air emissions than similar communities with more white residents. Seventy-six percent of students at F-rated schools are Black, while only seven percent are white.
...New voting center opens in New Orleans’ Central City for 2024 presidential election
Leaders of nonprofits Women with a Vision and the Power Coalition on Monday started the week by cutting the ribbon on a brand-new voter engagement center in New Orleans’ Central City neighborhood.
The center, next door to WWAV’s office, has four round tables with purple and green velvet chairs, as well as plush window seating and countertop space in front of a wall of greenery. The nonprofits plan to use the space to have open office hours, where people can stop by and ask any questions they may have about voting this fall.
It also will be a place that groups and residents can use to host voting events, even if that’s just some friends getting together.
“There are so many misconceptions about who can vote, when you vote, what to do to vote and how to get engaged, and some people feel a lot of shame about not knowing that,” WWAV Executive Director Deon Haywood told Gambit. “We just wanted to create a space where people felt like they can get anything they needed around voting.”
...Secretary of State issues guidance on new voter registration drive law
Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry has released guidance on a new law that requires organizers to register with her office before conducting a voter registration drive.
House Bill 506, sponsored by Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie, takes effect Thursday and mandates that anyone wishing to conduct a voter registration drive sign up with the Secretary of State.
The law is expected to mostly affect voter advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations such as the Urban League and Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.
Landry’s rules include:
- Anyone conducting fully electronic drives that use only the secretary of state’s voter portal at GeauxVote.com to register voters will not be required to register their drives.
- Organizers can sign up either in-person at the Secretary of State’s office in Baton Rouge or their parish registrar of voters. Online registration is available by emailing outreach@sos.la.gov. The sign-up involves filling out a “Voter Registration Drive Contact Form,” which is available on the secretary’s website.
- Anyone conducting a registration drive must submit all completed voter registration applications to their parish registrar of voters either within 30 days of their completion or no later than the close of registration for the next election, whichever comes first.
Black Voters in Louisiana Ask Supreme Court to Uphold Map with Two Majority-Black Districts Beyond 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Black voters asked the Supreme Court to take up a case to determine whether Louisiana will maintain the map enacted by the state legislature this year, which includes two majority-Black districts, following the 2024 elections. The appeal in Robinson v. Callais comes after the Court granted an emergency stay in May, pausing a district court’s decision to overturn the map, and allowing it to go into effect for the 2024 elections. The question remains whether the map will stand for the remainder of the decade until the next redistricting process.
Louisiana’s current congressional map was drawn in direct response to a separate lawsuit, Robinson v. Landry. There, a federal court found that the state’s map passed in 2022, which included only one majority-Black district, likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The same Black voters and civic organizations who filed today with the Supreme Court are responsible for that landmark win, which has been sustained on appeal.
“In January, the Louisiana Legislature finally did what it should have done in 2022: pass a fair map that reflects the diversity of the great state of Louisiana,” said Stuart Naifeh, redistricting manager for the Legal Defense Fund. “It was wrong for the lower court to disrupt the state’s effort to do the right thing and throw the 2024 election into chaos. The Supreme Court set that right for this election cycle by allowing, and as our filing explains, federal law and the Constitution require that Louisiana maintain this new map until the next census.”
“This year, Black voters in Louisiana will have an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice for two congressional seats—the same should be true moving forward,” said Ashley Shelton, president/CEO of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “The law, and basic principles of fairness, point in this direction. Black voters have mobilized since the beginning of the redistricting process in Louisiana. We will continue to mobilize to the polls. And we will continue to fight for fair maps until these cases are complete.”
Advocates tour Louisiana to register voters, educate citizens on voting rights
A Louisiana voting rights advocacy group is touring the state this summer to register Black voters and educate residents on their voting rights in order to increase turnout in the 2024 elections.
In honor of the 1964 Freedom Summer voter registration drive, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice is going to cities across Louisiana on a tour named after the historic civil rights era political action. The group is registering residents to vote in these cities and informing them on how to navigate potential barriers to vote. For instance, organizers have been teaching residents about a new state law going into effect Aug. 1, stipulating that only immediate family members or voter registrar employees will be able to assist with absentee ballots for more than one voter.
The tour also features information on polling locations and speakers from various social justice and social support organizations, such as the NAACP, Voice of the Experienced and Women with a Vision.
In addition to the presidential election, voters in Louisiana will decide in November on six congressional seats, a state Supreme Court judgeship and a ballot measure related to federal revenues from energy production. Ashley Shelton, founder and CEO of the Power Coalition, said her organization wants to make sure Louisiana voters know what is on the ballot.
“We need voters to make it down the ballot and understand the power they have to change not only their communities but the country,” Shelton said.
There will now be free parking at New Orleans City Hall during early voting periods
The New Orleans City Council on Thursday voted to waive parking fees for the streets surrounding City Hall during early voting periods — in time for the presidential election this fall.
The state assigns registered voters a specific early voting location, and for many in New Orleans, that’s City Hall, which is located in the Central Business District with paid street parking. The city will put up signs that say the free short-term parking is for voters only.
Early voting for the presidential election runs 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 18-29, excluding both Sundays. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Voting advocate and BikeNVote founder Morgan Walker brought the idea to the council to help make voting easier for people heading to City Hall.
Walker “actually brought this to my attention about how often people come to try to early vote at City Hall, but there’s no parking or it’s a difficulty for some to pay for the parking,” said Council President Helena Moreno at a council committee meeting Wednesday.
How does voting by mail work in Louisiana? Here’s what to know about the state’s new rules.
A slew of laws quietly passed during the most recent Louisiana legislative session will make rules surrounding absentee voting more strict during the upcoming November election and beyond.
The changes are most likely to impact voters with disabilities and could also affect Democrats, who are more likely to vote by mail than their Republican counterparts.
Though Louisiana has a strong election security system, Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said the changes would “bring us closer to being ranked first in the nation for election integrity.”
But critics say the laws amount to voter suppression, and a lawsuit has been filed alleging the rules will harm disabled voters. Also of concern is how the changes will impact those assisting elderly or disabled voters in filling out their ballots.
...THE SOUTH’S GOT NOW | DECIDIMOS CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHTS POWER OF EVERY VOTE
Black voters in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, were outraged when a state judge ruled last Decemberthat their favored candidate for sheriff, Henry Whitehorn, had to submit to a third election after he won a runoff by one vote and a recount confirmed his one-vote margin of victory.
Throwing out the election results particularly stung because Whitehorn would not only be the first Black sheriff in Caddo Parish, but one of only a handful of Black sheriffs in Louisiana history.
Whitehorn is a Black man with decades of Louisiana law enforcement experience, including 10 years as a U.S. marshal after President Barack Obama nominated him for the position. His challenger was a lawyer without law enforcement credentials.
“We were aghast that they wouldn’t uphold the recount,” said Billy Anderson, the North Louisiana organizer for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “Sometimes an election can come down to race.”
...Additional relocation meetings for displaced Shreveport residents
SHREVEPORT, La. – It’s a story KTBS 3 has been covering for weeks, water is to be shut off at the end of the month at the Pines, Villa Norte, and The Jolie apartments due to unpaid water bills, leaving hundreds of residents in search of a new home.
Recently the city scheduled additional meetings for relocation assistance.
Many residents came for relocation help with 9 days left to move out, leaving many still desperate for help.
“I recommend nobody will have to ever, ever live like this. You know, do the things that we’re going through. We are trying to do better. We just in a situation to what we cannot do better right now. We all have a cry right now for help,” said Tracey Collins, resident of The Jolie Apartments.
Around 60 people showed up to Friday’s relocation meetings, 30 of them have found new homes.
...City, Power Coalition and Providence House offer support to displaced residents of 3 apartment complexes
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Displaced residents of three Shreveport apartment complexes met with city officials during emergency relocation assistance meetings Tuesday (May 21) evening.
In just 10 days, water service will be discontinued at The Jolie, Villa Norte and Pines apartments. That has hundreds of residents searching for a place to live.
“We’re asking for help. We’re needing help tremendously right now. We’re needing help bad,” said Tracey Collins, a resident of The Jolie Apartments.
Dozens of Shreveport families are searching for a new place to call home after receiving notice that their utilities would be disconnected at the end of the month.
“So now I have no air in my apartment unit; I have no running water in my apartment unit,” Collins said.
But for some residents at The Jolie, they were given no notice and already are experiencing utility shutoffs.
“I have four kids in my apartment that are in heat. My thermostat is on 81º,” Collins said. “I have no running water. I have to get out and Doordash every day to make sure I can get enough water to flush.”
...Residents look forward to more comfortable living conditions after forced moves
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.
On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.
Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.
The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.
Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.
...Supreme Court Reinstates Congressional Map With Two Majority-Minority Districts
Supreme Court, for Now, Allows Louisiana Voting Map to Move Forward
The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily reinstated a congressional map in Louisiana that includes a second majority-Black district, increasing the likelihood that Democrats could gain a House seat from the state in the November election.
The move could be particularly significant in an election cycle in which the balance of power in the House is likely to be determined by a handful of races.
The order was unsigned, as is the Supreme Court’s custom in ruling on emergency applications. It came in response to a challenge to a lower-court decision that had blocked the map drawn by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature, deeming it a racial gerrymander.
...Supreme Court allows Louisiana to use congressional map with second majority-Black district
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year’s election that includes two majority-Black districts.
The court granted emergency requests filed by an unlikely alliance of Republican state officials and civil rights groups, who were united in asking the high court to block a lower court ruling that invalidated the most recently drawn map. State officials had said they needed to have the map finalized by Wednesday to meet bureaucratic deadlines and avoid “disarray.”
The court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the state still had time to draw a map that would address the various legal questions that have been raised. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
...Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program announced for Jolie, Villa Norte apartments
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.
On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.
Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.
The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.
Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.
...Federal Judges Block Newly Drawn Louisiana Congressional Map
A newly drawn congressional map in Louisiana was struck down on Tuesday by a panel of federal judges who found that the new boundaries, which form a second majority Black district in the state, amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The 2-to-1 ruling now leaves uncertain which boundaries will be used in the November elections, which are just six months away and could play a critical role in determining the balance of power in the House of Representatives.
Critics warned that the decision could have broader implications on voting rights. Eric H. Holder Jr., the former U.S. attorney general and current chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said the “ideological nature of the decision could not be more clear.”
...House Bill 800: Why Senators Should Not Sell Louisiana (Or Any Other State) To Big Business
The State Constitution of Louisiana is not perfect; no state constitution is. But that doesn’t mean state constitutions should be tossed aside or arbitrarily opened with no clarity on the rationale for doing so. It takes time to craft a governing document, and it takes time to protect the individual liberties and basic rights of all. But in seeking to host a constitutional convention, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is undermining democracy and putting Louisianians at risk.
Under House Bill 800, legislators would convene on May 20, write a new state constitution by June 15 and put it on the ballot during the 2024 presidential election. This narrow window would make it hard for Louisianians to understand the process, offer input, or ensure that their rights are protected. The convention itself, and the short timeline for it, would also compromise local governments and institutions.
...Ida B. Wells Was a Pathbreaking Data Storyteller
Power Coalition rep discusses Shreveport’s 3 bond proposals
Louisiana Congressional map debate continues in federal court
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—The recently passed Louisiana Congressional district map is being debated in federal court after opponents filed a lawsuit calling it unconstitutional.
Plaintiffs said they brought the lawsuit because they believe the map was drawn unconstitutionally, with race being a prominent factor.
The newly drawn map passed in the 2024 Special Legislative Session, created a second Black majority out of Louisiana’s six districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Because 1/3 of voters in Louisiana are Black, the Act requires that the district be drawn to reflect that representation.
Jared Evans, Senior Policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argues that the goal of the plaintiffs is to “have a district with one majority Black district and five majority White that elect White republicans.”
...Hearing underway on attempt to overthrow La.’s congressional map
SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — The trial over a lawsuit attempting to overthrow Louisiana’s new congressional map will continue Wednesday (April 10).
The hearing before a three-judge panel is being held in Shreveport. It began Monday and could last at least one more day.
Earlier this year, Louisiana lawmakers were tasked with making the map after a judge said a previous one violated the Voting Rights Act. The judge said Louisiana must have two majority-minority districts since one-third of its population is African-American. The previous map had one such district.
Under the latest map, the new 6th Congressional District extends from southern Caddo Parish through Natchitoches and Alexandria to Baton Rouge. The new boundaries jeopardize Republican Congressman Garret Graves’ place in Congress.
...Jeff Landry targeted Garret Graves in redrawing district map, LA lawmaker testifies
The trial to decide the fate of Louisiana’s congressional representation continued in Shreveport on Tuesday, as the court heard further testimony from elected officials and demographics experts.
The trial is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by a group of Louisiana residents that argued that the congressional map supported by Gov. Jeff Landry and approved by the state Legislature in January amounted to an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” The map, introduced in Senate Bill 8, created a new majority Black congressional district stretching diagonally across the state to encompass the large Black communities in and around Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
...Environmental Protection Agency Gives $20 Billion in ‘Green Bank’ Grants
Winning Women
Shining a Light On: Ashley Shelton
Beauty, Barbers, and Ballots event stresses voting, civic engagement
Louisiana legislation targets mail-in absentee voting as it gains in popularity
Early voting begins in Shreveport
Baton Rouge Bike N Vote gets community involved with early voting
Mardi Gras is Revolutionary
Civil Rights Groups Secure Victory in Landmark Case Challenging Racial Discrimination in Louisiana’s State Legislative Maps
Black Louisianans Enter a New Political Era
Deep investments in energy savings approved today!
Entergy Louisiana receives approval for additional renewable power facilities
Louisiana makes history with new Black congressional district that includes Shreveport
Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Map That Empowers More Black Voters
Advocates to Hold Mass Mobilization Event at Louisiana Capitol Before Redistricting Committee Meeting and Public Hearing
News Categories
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2023 Legislative News
- 2024
- 2024 Policy Priority
- Amendments
- Art & Justice
- Articles
- Civil Rights
- Climate Justice
- COVID-19
- Criminal Justice
- Disenfranchisement
- Early Child Care and Education
- East Baton Rouge
- Education
- Elections
- Environmental Justice
- Events
- Featured Redistricting
- Federal One Click
- Get Out & Vote
- Health Advocacy
- Housing Justice
- Hurricane Ida
- Juvenile Justice
- Legislative Advocacy
- Legislative One Click
- Legislative Session News
- Legislative Update
- Maternal Health
- New Orleans
- Newsletters
- OpEds
- Podcasts
- Power Forum
- Press Releases
- PSC
- Redistricting
- Reproductive Justice
- Shreveport
- Videos
- Voting Rights