National redistricting war reignites with Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling
Key takeaways
- The high court on Wednesday handed down its much-awaited ruling on Louisiana s House map, striking down its second majority-Black district.
- Alito cast the decision as an update on how race will be evaluated in redistricting.
- Given Wednesday s decision, though, some Republican leaders in southern states, in particular, are calling for new maps — despite primary elections in some states, including Louisiana and Georgia, kicking off next month.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
The high court on Wednesday handed down its much-awaited ruling on Louisiana s House map, striking down its second majority-Black district. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority in their 6-3 decision, called Louisiana s congressional lines an unconstitutional gerrymander and curtailed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars election practices that deny equal access to the political process based on race.
Alito cast the decision as an update on how race will be evaluated in redistricting.
This move, however, will have downstream impacts after months of back and forth over redistricting across the country, first ignited by President Trump in Texas as he sought to boost the GOP s chances of holding on to the House majority this November. Democrats responded in California and Virginia.