The United States Supreme Court has voided a key provision of a landmark civil rights law by ruling that the electoral map of Louisiana had been drawn up unconstitutionally to create two Black-majority districts. The decision represents a major reinterpretation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, particularly its Section 2, designed to protect minority voters from having their political power diluted.

Wednesday's ruling is seen as a major win for Louisiana Republicans and President Donald Trump's administration and is expected to make it harder for minorities to challenge electoral maps as racially discriminatory under the 1965 law. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry told Republican candidates that he planned to suspend next month's primary elections to allow state lawmakers time to approve a new congressional map.

The court's conservative majority found that the Louisiana district represented by Democrat Cleo Fields relied too heavily on race. Chief Justice John Roberts described the 6th Congressional District as a "snake" that stretches more than 200 miles to link parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority: "That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander."

The ruling effectively applies an "intent test" to Section 2, meaning plaintiffs must now prove intentional racial discrimination, rather than merely showing a discriminatory impact. Justice Elena Kagan, in a dissent joined by the two other liberal justices, said the ruling renders the Voting Rights Act "all but a dead letter" and predicted "grave" consequences.

Former President Barack Obama warned that the ruling will free state legislatures 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'." Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock called it "a devastating and profound step backwards for American Democracy."

Trump praised the ruling as "a BIG WIN for Equal Protection under the Law," while the Congressional Black Caucus condemned it, saying Republicans now have the ability to "rig congressional maps in their favor." The full impact of the ruling on the November midterms is not immediately clear, but legal experts say Republican-led states may seek to redraw maps to weaken Democratic-held seats.

Source: www.aljazeera.com