In what represents a momentous ruling in American electoral history, the Supreme Court issued a decision this Wednesday morning that annuls the map of the Louisiana Congress after the state was forced to add a second district with a black majority.
In the Louisiana v. Callais case, the highest court ruled that such a measure was not required under the Voting Rights Act, so the use of race to redesign such a map is unconstitutional. The decision doesn't eliminate Section 2, but it could impact redistricting disputes across the country
.In itself, the Court is making it clear that states cannot rely on race to design their electoral maps - a device that Democrats had been using to win more seats in Congress - unless the law clearly requires it. Under this new scheme, the Republican Party could win 19 seats in the House of Representatives once the new maps are drawn for the next elections
.In the majority opinion, Judge Samuel Alito explained that “Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to enforce the Constitution, not to clash with it.” He also rebuked the lower courts, which, according to him, used the Court's “precedents in a way that compels States to participate in the same discrimination based on race that the Constitution
