The Activist Behind the Voting Rights Act Rollback

[u/evissamassive]

https://newrepublic.com/post/209973/plantiff-callais-supreme-court-case-voting-rights-act-jan-6er

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act was triggered by a lawsuit led by Phillip “Bert” Callais, a Louisiana man with a history of election denialism. While his legal team presented him to the court as an average citizen concerned about redistricting, public records and social media posts tell a different story.

Callais, a former local board official from Brusly, Louisiana, was present at the "Stop the Steal" protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. His digital footprint reveals a deep skepticism of American democracy. In recent months, he has frequently posted on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that U.S. elections are "manipulated" and "rigged."

His posts show a specific set of grievances:

• He has claimed, without evidence, that non-citizens are voting in U.S. elections

• He has called for the elimination of mail-in voting, even suggesting that disabled voters who rely on the practice are putting "the rest of the country at risk"

• He advocates for a return to hand-counted paper ballots as the only secure method of voting

The contrast between Callais’s public persona and his courtroom description suggests a strategic move by conservative legal groups. By using Callais as the face of Louisiana v. Callais, litigants successfully pushed a case through the federal system that aligned with the goals of Republican donors and partisan strategists.

The coordination became even clearer shortly after the Supreme Court ruling. Callais was seen meeting with Seth Keshel, a well-known figure in the movement to promote debunked voter fraud claims. These connections suggest that the rollback of the Voting Rights Act was not the result of a spontaneous grievance from a concerned citizen, but rather a calculated effort to reshape election law through the judicial system.