US civil rights march targets Trump voting changes

The "Defend the Vote" march brought protesters to the National Mall 63 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech during the landmark 1963 March on Washington.

Organized by veteran civil rights leader Al Sharpton and led by King's son Martin Luther King III, the demonstration was expected to draw support from more than 90 civil rights, labor, faith and community organizations.

Prominent speakers include left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

"Defending the vote means defending the foundation of our democracy. Sixty three years after my father stood at the Lincoln Memorial, we are called to march again, not only in remembrance, but in action," King III said ahead of the event.

Organizers say voting rights are under their most serious threat in decades following a Supreme Court ruling in April that weakened protections under the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The decision cleared the way for Republican-led states in the South to redraw congressional districts in ways civil rights groups say dilute the political influence of Black voters.

"There are many strategies right now to limit our voting rights, but we're not going to stop," Alotta Taylor, vice chair for the National Council of Negro Women, told AFP. "We're going to push forward. We're not going to let that happen."

- Mail ballot battle -

The demonstration also comes amid an escalating legal fight over Trump's attempt to tighten rules governing mail-in voting.

Civil rights organizations have challenged Trump's executive order, while courts have issued a rapid series of conflicting decisions over how much of it can take effect before the November elections.

Participating groups including the NAACP filed fresh legal claims this week, arguing that the changes could prevent eligible voters from casting ballots.

Sharpton has portrayed the march as the beginning rather than the culmination of an organizing campaign intended to continue through Election Day.

"The right to vote, the very foundation of our power, is being chipped away in statehouse after statehouse," he said.

Organizers are also trying to connect voting rights to economic concerns among younger Americans, particularly Black voters whose support for Democrats weakened in the 2024 presidential election.

Polling cited by Axios found that 36 percent of Black voters aged 18 to 29 named jobs and the economy as their top issue, compared with 11 percent who cited racism.

That challenge has shaped the message of Friday's march, whose organizers have sought to link access to the ballot with wages, health care, housing and the affordability crisis.

"I'm extremely happy to be able to use my right to vote. That's why we're here -- to try to defend that right," said Howard University student Jessica Canty, 18.

"We're doing it for the people who fought for the right to vote. Now to this day, we still face more struggle. So we just keep coming out (to) stand up for our right."