WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is considering a significant challenge to the Voting Rights Act. This law, central to the Civil Rights Movement, protects against racial discrimination in redistricting. The court is reviewing Louisiana’s congressional map, which includes two majority Black districts. A ruling favoring the state could make it easier for legislatures to redraw maps, potentially reducing Black and Latino representation that generally benefits Democrats.
Redistricting battles are intensifying nationwide. Following Donald Trump’s encouragement, Republican-led states are working to adjust their congressional lines to maintain their narrow majority in the House. The court has traditionally expressed skepticism towards race-based considerations. Just last year, it ended affirmative action in college admissions. This follows the 2013 decision that weakened a major enforcement mechanism of the Voting Rights Act, allowing states with a history of discrimination to change election laws without federal approval.
If the court weakens Section 2 of this law, states could redraw electoral districts with minimal oversight, inviting extreme partisan gerrymandering. Recent data shows that state-level gerrymandering has consistently favored the party in power, creating electoral maps that often don’t reflect the actual voting population.
In a similar case two years ago, the court narrowly ruled, finding probable violations of the Voting Rights Act in Alabama’s map. This led to the creation of new districts that brought two more Black Democrats to Congress. However, the current Louisiana case raises a pressing question: Does creating a second majority-minority district violate the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments? Chief Justice John Roberts has questioned the configuration of one of these districts, likening it to a “snake” due to its winding nature over 200 miles.
The dispute over Louisiana’s congressional districts has stretched over three years. In 2022, the Republican-led legislature adjusted their map based on the 2020 census results. However, this change largely preserved the existing political balance, maintaining five Republican-leaning majority white districts and one Democratic-leaning majority Black district. Civil rights advocates successfully argued in a lower court that this setup discriminated against Black voters.
After a court directive, the state attempted to redraw the map to ensure compliance, while also protecting its powerful Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. However, a new lawsuit from white voters contends that race was the primary factor in these decisions, which has led to the current Supreme Court case.
Some experts believe that the court’s ruling could reshape the political landscape significantly, influencing representation for years to come. In recent discussions, political analysts have noted how such legal battles reflect broader trends in voter suppression and civil rights protections in America.
For ongoing updates on the Supreme Court’s decisions, you can follow their coverage at AP News.
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