Supreme Court Considers Challenge to Voting Rights Act, Possibly Weakening Protections Against Racial Gerrymandering
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is hearing a Republican-led challenge that could substantially weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965, raising concerns about potential increases in racial gerrymandering. The case centers on Louisiana‘s congressional map adn asks whether the state’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments.
This case follows the court’s recent decision ending affirmative action in college admissions and a 2012 ruling that dismantled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring states with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal approval before making changes to thier election laws.
The Louisiana dispute began after the 2020 census prompted the state’s Republican-dominated legislature to redraw its congressional map in 2022. The initial map maintained five Republican-leaning majority white districts and one Democratic-leaning majority Black district. Civil rights advocates successfully argued in a lower court that the map discriminated against black voters.
Louisiana later created a second majority-Black district, which elected Democratic Rep.Cleo Fields in 2023. However, white Louisiana voters filed a separate lawsuit alleging that race was the primary factor in drawing the new map. A three-judge court agreed, leading to the current supreme Court case.
During arguments in March, Chief Justice John Roberts expressed skepticism about the shape of the second majority-Black district, describing it as a “snake” stretching over 200 miles to connect Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge.
two years prior,in a 5-4 decision,the court affirmed a ruling finding a likely violation of the Voting Rights Act in a similar case concerning Alabama’s congressional map. That decision resulted in new districts that sent two additional Black Democrats to Congress.
A ruling weakening or striking down Section 2 of the Voting rights Act could remove limits on how states draw electoral districts, potentially leading to extreme gerrymandering by the party in power at the state level. The court fight over Louisiana’s congressional districts has lasted three years.
