Janea Jamison of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice talked to WAFB about the Power Coalition....

“People don’t understand how gerrymandered our maps have been over the years. We basically crack and pack people of color and have for years,” Shelton said....

House Bill 286 to Extend Early Voting Passes Senate and Headed to Governor’s Desk Baton Rouge, LA– HB 286 to extend early voting for presidential elections passed the Louisiana Senate unanimously and is now headed to the Governor’s desk. The bill, sponsored by Representative Fred Jones out of Monroe, extends in-person early voting for presidential elections. Under this new law, early voting for presidential elections will take place over 11 days instead of the previous 7. “This is a big achievement for a state in the deep south” said Power Coalition Founder and CEO, Ashley Shelton. “We know that providing more opportunities to vote increases turnout, makes lines shorter, and expands democracy.”  In 2020, Power Coalition filed a federal lawsuit to extend early voting and increase vote by mail options in a COVID reality. These increased options were widely used and demonstrated the need for increased voting options in Louisiana;...

For immediate release– May 19, 2021 House Bill 285 to Increase Time in Voting Booth Unanimously Passes Senate and Headed to Governor’s Desk Baton Rouge, LA– HB 285 to increase the amount of time one has in the voting booth passed the Senate unanimously yesterday, clearing the path for the Governor’s desk. The bill, sponsored by Representative Ted James out of Baton Rouge, increases the time limit that people can spend in the voting booth from three minutes to six minutes for all elections.  Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, the organization that encouraged this bill and engaged community members to support the bill, says this bill is based on an issue that arose again in the 2020 election, with people being asked to leave the voting booth after 3 minutes even if they did not have time to complete their ballot. In 2020, with a ballot that included 7...