Supreme Court's surprise Voting Rights Act ruling could help Democrats retake the House

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Thursday that Alabama's gerrymandered congressional map violated the Voting Rights Act by depriving Black voters of adequate opportunity to select House members to represent them. Alabama's Republican-controlled Legislature drew new congressional maps in 2021 that left only one of the state's seven districts majority-Black, even though Black voters make up about 27% of Alabama's electorate.

The ruling was something of a surprise. A federal appellate court had ordered Alabama to redraw its map for the 2022 midterms, but the Supreme Court had stepped in and halted the order. And the court has only gotten more conservative since it gutted key parts of the Voting Rights Act in 2013 and again in 2020. But Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the 2013 opinion that struck down the heart of the landmark 1965 law, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court's three liberals and preserved Section 2 of Voting Right Acts from Alabama's challenge.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.