NC Policy Watch: “U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday heard oral arguments in a case that challenges an Alabama redistricting map and could potentially eliminate remaining federal safeguards against racial gerrymandering.
Voting rights advocates fear that the high court’s conservative majority will further weaken the Voting Rights Act, with implications for voters in states across the country.
The case, Merrill v. Milligan, considers whether the 2021 redistricting map for Alabama’s seven congressional districts violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it dilutes the collective voting power of Black voters.
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Since 2013, the court has heard several cases pertaining to the Voting Rights Act, with each decision either gutting or limiting its federal protections.
The court struck down the Section 5 pre-clearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act, which covered nine states—including Alabama—and a handful of counties and municipalities with a history of discriminating against voters of color.
Last year, the court in a 6-3 decision upheld Arizona voting restrictions led by Republicans, making it harder to prove voting rights violations under Section 2. A lower court found that the voting practices disproportionately burdened Black, Latino and Native American voters.
Kagan noted that the court has weakened the Voting Rights Act over the years, despite it being “one of the great achievements of American democracy.””