US civil rights leaders plan march on Washington for voting protections

Rev Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III to lead August march after court rulings weakened voting rights A coalition of civil rights leaders have announced plans to march on Washington in defense of voting rights following a string of federal and supreme court rulings that have weakened protections against racial discrimination in US elections. The Rev Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is leading the 28 August action, joined by Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters ​King, and several civil rights groups. The “March on Washington 2026: Defend the ​Vote” will take place on the 63rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a ​Dream speech. “Defending ⁠the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Sixty-three years after my father stood at the ​Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, ​but in ⁠action.” In April, the supreme court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map and substantially rewrote section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, dismantling key protections against racial gerrymandering. Campaign organisers told the AP that the decision had intensified a long-