Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is sounding the alarm and urging Americans not to “move on” from voting rights, months after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.
In a Substack article, Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, shares her thoughts on what is needed to protect voting and preserve the U.S.’s democracy as it turns 250 years old.
Harris described the court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais as a “five-alarm fire,” noting the subsequent actions by Republicans in several Southern states have resulted in the weakened political power of Black and brown voters.
“The news cycle has moved on since the decision on April 29, but we cannot,” writes Harris. “Today, we have to focus on where the fight is heading: in the short-term in 2026, in the medium-term in the states, and in the long-term in how we make the bold changes required to ensure the power is with the people.”
The former Vice President and potential 2028 presidential candidate said that, in the short term, ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, voters should check their voter registration to confirm whether and where they can vote. In the medium term, she suggested that voters educate themselves about who serves on their state board of elections and show up when it meets. She also called on voters to understand “what is at stake in your state supreme court races” and to “pay as much attention to your local elections as you do to presidential elections.”
More consequentially, Harris proposed serious long-term legislative reforms to safeguard the right to vote in future elections.
“I’ll put it plainly,” she writes, adding, “Democrats need to grow a backbone, and we cannot be afraid to have a conversation about systemic reforms to restore voting rights.”
Among the reforms proposed by Harris are expanding the Supreme Court “beyond” its current nine justices; reforming or eliminating the Electoral College; and enacting statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The former California Attorney General and U.S. Senator also called for enforcing ethics reform for Supreme Court justices and implementing “real consequences for judicial nominees who lie.”
In her Substack, Harris also shares a visit she had with students at North Carolina A&T University, the nation’s largest HBCU, where the Republican-controlled state Board of Elections eliminated their on-campus polling site.
“When they went to the state capital to protest the decision, they were told that voting was a privilege, not a right. They were told, ‘You have five minutes to leave,'” she recalled. “That did not stop them. These young leaders are organizing, speaking out, and refusing to let anyone take their power. They are fighting for young people’s participation in our democracy, and they are fighting for Black and brown Americans’ voices.”
Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a U.S. presidential ticket, said she was “inspired” by the students at North Carolina A&T, explaining, “This is the energy we need to bring to the fight for voting rights.”
The former vice president said she will be hitting the road this fall to meet with voters, organizers, advocates and candidates who are impacted by the Callais decision, telling readers, “I hope you will support me in this work.”
She added, “There is no question our fight is now harder. But I know we are up for the battle, and I know we are not alone.”
