• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Allison Riggs

Interim Executive Director / Chief Counsel, Voting Rights
allisonriggs@scsj.org

Allison Riggs leads the voting rights program at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, an organization she joined in 2009.  In March of 2020, she also took over as Interim Executive Director of the organization.

Her voting rights work over the last decade at SCSJ has been focused on fighting for fair redistricting plans, fighting against voter suppression, and advocating for electoral reforms that would expand access to voting.

She has litigated redistricting cases on behalf of State NAACP Conferences in Texas, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. In 2018, she argued the Texas redistricting case in the United States Supreme Court, and in 2019, she argued the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case in the Supreme Court.  Allison works closely with grassroots organizations and communities of color as they seek to advance their political and civil rights.  She received her undergraduate, Master’s Degree and J.D. from the University of Florida.

Jeff Loperfido

Senior Counsel, Voting Rights
jeffloperfido@scsj.org

Jeff Loperfido serves as Senior Counsel with SCSJ’s Voting Rights group. His practice focuses on litigation and policy advocacy that ensures the fair and full participation of all voters.

Jeff graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in Economics, and earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Norma L. Shapiro, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and then worked in private practice for five years at the New York City law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP. In 2015, he shifted his practice to government work, serving as senior counsel in the Special Federal Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department. Jeff returned to North Carolina in 2017 committed to dedicating his future professional efforts to social justice causes and is excited to have found that opportunity at SCSJ.

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

  • Home
  • About
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Employment Opportunities
  • News
  • Programs
    • Voting Rights
      • News
      • Featured Cases
      • Resources
    • Justice System Reform
      • News
      • Featured Cases
      • Resources
    • Youth Justice Project
      • News
      • Resources
  • Resources
    • Make a Voting Plan: North Carolina
    • Make a Voting Plan: National
    • #MyVoteMyVoice
    • Early Voting Advocacy 2020
    • Videos
    • Reports
    • Infographics
    • SCSJ-led Projects
  • SCSJ Monthly Digest
  • Contact
  • Donate

Search Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Voting Rights

“No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live.”

Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17 (1964)

SCSJ’s voting rights work protects the rights of communities of color by defending the Voting Rights Act through fair redistricting and minimizing elections administration practices that threaten free democratic participation in elections such as photo ID requirements, restrictions on voter registration and early voting, and Election Day voter challenges.

News

Cases

Resources

Our Mission

  • Broaden citizen understanding of participation in the democratic process.
  • Give people of color, who are not afforded fair representation, a voice in the redistricting process.
  • Prevent the dilution of cohesive racial minority groups through packing voters of color into only a few districts, or cracking their neighborhoods among several districts.
  • Help underrepresented constituencies achieve favorable public policy outcomes on a range of issues.
  • Ensure transparency, accountability, and meaningful public participation in order to promote the legitimacy of the governing bodies subsequently elected.

Our Work

  • Impact Litigation
  • Policy Advocacy
  • Education & Outreach

SCSJ represents individual voters and civic engagement groups in litigation to protect the right to cast a ballot and to ensure that every eligible vote counts equally. We challenge voter suppression measures and unfair redistricting maps. We believe in zealous advocacy in the redistricting process to ensure the fair and full participation of all voters. We represent nonpartisan groups and people of color in local and statewide redistricting litigation across the South, including in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and we have represented clients before the United States Supreme Court.

Our leadership shapes the legal doctrines defining racial gerrymandering, partisan gerrymandering, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, with the ultimate goal of ensuring fair and equal election systems in the South.

Learn more about our cases here.

SCSJ’s election administration work and policy advocacy focuses on protecting access to the ballot and monitoring legislative initiatives aimed at requiring photo ID at the polls, restricting voter registration, or otherwise disenfranchising voters. In addition to trainings on advocating for more early voting sites, SCSJ has provided legal support to help enforce state laws regarding the voting rights of persons with felony convictions or misdemeanants who are in jail.

SCSJ strives to link claims for minority representation with claims for fuller participation by all citizens. For example, voter ID requirements hinder effective participation by numerous groups, including young people, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. We also provide zealous advocacy in the redistricting process to ensure the fair and full participation of all voters. By demystifying the political and legal processes around redistricting, and providing models for more inclusive democratic structures, we hope to generate broader policy reforms that improve the democratic process overall.

SCSJ believes that voting rights secure the voices of people of color in critical decisions that affect local communities and that have the potential to create progressive social change. We provide counsel to local community groups regarding redistricting and we speak on behalf of clients at local town hall meetings and legislative committees.

Southern Leadership for Voter Engagement (SOLVE):  SCSJ coordinates and is a member of SOLVE, a multi-state network formed in 2013 that facilitates collaboration and shares best practices in multidisciplinary advocacy, sound grassroots mobilization, and legislative and legal strategies to ensure fair and equitable voting practices. SCSJ also coordinates SOLVE’s annual convening.

Learn more about SOLVE here.

Census and Fair Redistricting Schools:  SCSJ is working with other groups to lay the groundwork for a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census, with a particular focus on ensuring the full participation of traditionally hard-to-count communities.  We are also planning a series of redistricting schools that will educate communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the South about redistricting practices that might limit their participation in the political process and build capacity in these communities to draw their own maps.  The recipe for success in ensuring that the voting strength of communities of color does not suffer setbacks in the upcoming process includes establishing a collaborative framework to educate community organizations across the South about the new redistricting reality without the protections of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, to put technology and data analysis in their hands, and to assist in developing strategies to advocate for their rights in legislatures and, if needed, in the courtroom.

Key Contacts

Allison Riggs, Interim Executive Director / Chief Counsel, Voting Rights
allisonriggs@scsj.org

Jeff Loperfido, Senior Counsel, Voting Rights
jeffloperfido@scsj.org

Footer

Contact

1415 West Highway 54, Suite 101
Durham, NC 27707
info@southerncoalition.org
office: 919-323-3380
fax: 919-323-3942
Map

Key Links

About
Donate
Most Recent 990
Staff
Board

The Latest

The right of all citizens to vote free from discrimination is at the heart of America’s vibrant democracy. In #BrnovichvDNC, #SCOTUS should affirm that there’s no place for racism in our elections by striking down Arizona’s racially discriminatory voting laws. #ProtectOurVote pic.twitter.com/s384…

About 3 days ago

Lawmakers at the state and federal levels have advanced legislation to roll back policies with racist origins that #disenfranchise people with criminal convictions. Read more in this analysis piece from @BrennanCenter: bit.ly/3uxe73k #VotingRights

About 3 days ago

In the wake of a summer of protests against police brutality, the midst of an ongoing pandemic, and the aftermath of a contentious election, @UNCPPD hosted a panel on what #racialjustice looks like – and how it might be achieved – in the 21st century. bit.ly/3pZ02Z5

About 3 days ago

REMINDER: This event is TOMORROW! Don't miss out - register today! twitter.com/scsj/sta…

About 3 days ago

"For the first time since 1965, congressional, state, and local government legislative districts will be drawn without the key protections of the Voting Rights Act." Read why we need to protect & expand access to the #vote, especially for voters of color. bit.ly/3aQFOfD

About 3 days ago

Follow @scsj
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Copyright © 2021 Southern Coalition for Social Justice · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design