The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a very big deal. It transformed America, marking the end of the Jim Crow era and effectively banning racial discrimination in elections. Finally fulfilling the promise of a multiracial democracy, Black voter registration increased, and political representation across the nation better reflected America’s diverse population.
60 years later, a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act is at risk of being erased. In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court has sided with the plaintiffs in a redistricting case out of Louisiana called Louisiana v. Callais. The case focused on Louisiana’s legislative maps, which were amended after a 2022 lawsuit in which civil rights groups and community members sued the state of Louisiana, claiming the maps drawn after the 2020 census didn’t properly reflect Louisiana’s Black population.
Once the new map with two majority-Black districts passed in the Louisiana state legislature in 2024, a group of “non African-American voters” filed a lawsuit that alleged the new map was unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered, intended to cut white voters out of power. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Louisiana must redraw that map.
What happens next could ignite a widespread gerrymandering effort that would alter electoral maps across red states and have major effects on minority political representation in the United States at every level of government.
If you want to read more about the case, take a look at some of the sources that contributed to our reporting:
The Louisiana v. Callais case: https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/louisiana-v-callais-2/
A piece on the Supreme Court ruling by Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser: https://www.vox.com/politics/487363/supreme-court-louisiana-callais-gerrymandering-alito-voting-rights-act
Power Coalition’s work: https://powercoalition.org/
The Fair Fight and Black Voters Matter report: https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Fair-Fight-Action-x-Black-Voters-Matter-Report.pdf
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