Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, giving its conservative majority a chance to deal another blow to the landmark federal law enacted 60 years ago to prevent racial discrimination in voting.
The case involves electoral districts in Louisiana. The arguments come in an appeal by a group of Black voters of a judicial decision declaring that a map that raised the number of Black-majority congressional districts in the state from one to two violated the constitutional promise of equal protection because it was guided too much by racial considerations.
Louisiana, where Black people make up roughly a third of the population, has six U.S. House of Representatives districts. Black voters tend to support Democratic candidates.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act bars electoral maps that would result in diluting the clout of minority voters, even absent direct proof of racist intent. This provision gained greater significance as a bulwark against racial discrimination in voting after the Supreme Court, in a 2013 ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, gutted a different section of the Voting Rights Act.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to rule by the end of June. A decision striking down Section 2 could help Republicans gain as many as 19 additional seats in the U.S. House and reduce minority membership in Congress, according to a report by Democratic-affiliated advocacy groups Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter Fund. Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the House. Read more from John Kruzel.
More Supreme Court news today:
US Supreme Court won't review rule allowing H-1B holders' spouses to work
US Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones' challenge to $1.4 billion defamation judgment
US Supreme Court rebuffs challenge to federal protections for tech platforms
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