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Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling on a Louisiana congressional map on Wednesday (April 29), saying it weakens protections for Black voters under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The court ruled 6-3 on Wednesday to eliminate Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, represented by Black Democrat Cleo Fields, claiming it relied too heavily on race when being drawn up, according to The Associated Press.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities - so long as they do it under the guise of 'partisanship' rather than explicit 'racial bias,” Obama wrote in a statement posted to X following the ruling.
Harris echoed that concern in her own response, writing in a post on X: “Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was one of the last remaining federal protections for Black and brown voters against maps deliberately drawn to dilute their political power. That protection has been stripped away. The mission before us is to restore the power of the people. There is no question our fight became harder today, but I know we are up for the battle.”
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion that the district, which is about 54% Black, was an “unconstitutional gerrymander” that violated the 14th Amendment.
He claimed that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not permit Louisiana to create a second Black majority-minority district in the state, and that “allowing race to play any part in government decisionmaking represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context.”
This reflects a major departure from the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on the district, which they permitted in 2024 by overriding a lower court ruling deeming it illegal gerrymandering, per the AP.
The Louisiana Legislature drew the district in 2024 as the state's second majority-Black district, representing a major win for Black voters and representation in the state.
Now, with the district struck down by the court, the question of how the decision will affect minority representation nationwide remains up in the air as state legislatures move to comply with the ruling.
The ruling is the latest development in a nationwide redistricting battle in the lead-up to the November midterms, which began last year following President Donald Trump's calls for Republican-led states to redraw district maps to give Republicans the edge.
Voters in Virginia recently approved a congressional proposal that could give Democrats four seats in the House, though legal challenges from the Republican Party have stalled its implementation.
In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s new congressional proposal, which strongly favors Republicans, passed the Florida House and has moved to the Senate, despite the state constitution’s ban on partisan gerrymandering. If passed, it could also grant Republicans four seats.
Both the state of Alabama and Tennessee also responded hours after the ruling on Wednesday with congressional proposals of their own.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s bid to redraw Tennessee's congressional map would effectively eliminate the state's only remaining Democratic district, according to Axios.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told AL.com that the state “will act as quickly as possible” to implement the court’s ruling in a bid that could potentially erase Black representation in the state’s two majority-minority districts.
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