Supreme Court raises bar for voting rights challenges
The Court ruled 6-3 to block a Louisiana map with a second Black-majority district. The ruling shifts the Voting Rights Act to a strict intent-based standard.
The United States Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling blocking a Louisiana electoral map that included a second Black-majority congressional district. The decision effectively guts Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by shifting the legal standard from a "results test" to an "intent test." This ruling allows states to redraw electoral maps for partisan advantage, potentially shifting the balance of power in the U.S. House.
### Shift from Results to Intent Justice Samuel Alito authored the majority opinion, joined by five conservative justices. The ruling mandates that Section 2 must now enforce the Constitution’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination rather than merely addressing discriminatory outcomes. Alito stated that interpreting the law to require a specific number of majority-minority districts would create rights the 15th Amendment does not protect.
