Mariame Diop and Kacy Alejo-Rios, Author at Baltimore Post-Examiner

Mariame Diop and Kacy Alejo-Rios are Research and Policy Fellows at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation’s largest and oldest Latino civil rights organization.

Negro voting in Cardoza [i.e., Cardozo] High School in [Washington,] D.C. / [MST]." Original black and white negative by Marion S. Trikosko. Taken November 3rd, 1964, Washington D.C, United States (@libraryofcongress). Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003688167/

Commentary

The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — Maryland Puts It to the Test

July 10, 2025 Mariame Diop and Kacy Alejo-Rios

Voting rights in Maryland are under siege — and for Latino, Black, naturalized citizens, and working-class voters, the danger isn’t abstract. It’s happening right now, in courtrooms and committee hearings, in bureaucratic rule changes and so-called “integrity” lawsuits designed to do one thing: make it harder for people to vote. And as we approach the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we’re forced to ask ourselves — have we learned anything from the past?