Politico: “A federal appeals court issued a ruling Monday that could gut the Voting Rights Act, saying only the federal government — not private citizens or civil rights groups — is allowed to sue under a key section of the landmark civil rights law.
The decision out of the 8th Circuit will almost certainly be appealed and is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Should it stand, it would mark a dramatic rollback of the enforcement of the law that led to increased minority power and representation in American politics….
While the Department of Justice can — and under President Joe Biden, increasingly has — brought Section 2 challenges, private groups have been the main drivers of these lawsuits.
“It’s hard to overstate how important and detrimental this decision would be if allowed to stand,” Rick Hasen, a prominent election law expert at UCLA Law School, wrote on Monday. “If minority voters are going to continue to elect representatives of their choice, they are going to need private attorneys to bring those suits.”…
The immediate next step following Monday’s ruling was not immediately clear. Legal experts expect the case to end up in front of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court could choose to hear an appeal directly, or the entirety of the 8th Circuit could weigh in on the case first. “