Civil rights leaders announce ‘March on Washington’ to defend voting rights

CHICAGO — Civil rights leaders announced plans for a Washington march ‌to defend voting rights, saying on Tuesday that recent court decisions have weakened key federal protections against racial discrimination in voting.

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The coalition — led by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and joined by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters ​King, and labor and civil rights groups — will host the “March on Washington 2026: Defend the ​Vote” march on August 28.

That will mark the 63rd anniversary of ⁠the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a ​Dream” speech.

Organizers said they hope to use the event to pressure lawmakers and rally a response ​to the erosion of voting protections.

The campaign centers on the Supreme Court’s April ruling weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a key provision used to challenge voting laws and electoral maps that discriminate on the basis ​of race or dilute minority voting power. Organizers said the decision has intensified a long-running ​fight over Black political representation.

Some Republicans defended the court’s decision, arguing that race-conscious redistricting is unconstitutional.

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Sharpton, however, called the ‌ruling “a ⁠bullet in the heart of the voting rights movement,” underscoring the stakes civil rights advocates see surrounding the court’s decision.

The march follows a Wall Street demonstration last year that drew hundreds to downtown Manhattan to protest against what they said was corporate America’s retreat from diversity, equity and ​inclusion initiatives under pressure ​from the Trump administration.

“Defending ⁠the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement. “Sixty-three years after my father stood at the ​Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, ​but in ⁠action.”

The coalition includes the Drum Major Institute, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Government Employees, the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Urban League, the League of ⁠United Latin ​American Citizens and the Working Families Party. U.S. Representative ​Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, is expected to attend with other members of Congress, ​the organizers said in a release.

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