“As the U.S. Supreme Court contemplates whether the VRA has outlived its usefulness, having heard oral arguments in October questioning the constitutionality of the landmark law’s most vital remaining provision, the question of racism’s grip on America remains” (Jim Saksa. The Voting Rights Act Is Still Working to Stop Racist Laws. The Supreme Court May Not Care.” Democracy Docket 11/24/25).
The VRA was passed into law in 1965 to end Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement of that era. “Section 2… prohibits any voting law, procedure, or map resulting in the ‘denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.’” The result of this new law was that the number of Blacks in the U.S. Congress increased dramatically. “Before the 1990 Census’ round of reapportionment and redistricting, there were only 15 majority-Black congressional districts in the U.S., and only four in the South. But at the start of 2025, there were 148 majority-minority House districts, or 34% of the nation’s 435 districts. That’s closer, but still a bit shy, to matching the roughly 41% of the U.S. population that is non-white” (Saska).
Whether Section 2 will be nullified is a burning issue before the Supreme Court that will affect the whole nation in a power struggle between Democrats and Republicans.
The case before SCOTUS, Louisiana v. Callais, is about the state of Louisiana creating a voting district map that gave Black voters only one district. Democrats sued in a second case, arguing that the redistricting diluted Black voters. Democrats won. A second district map was created that gave Blacks two voting districts.
Conservative opponents countersued, arguing that the second map violated the 14th and 15th Amendments which guarantee equal protection of the law. In other words, Republicans were being discriminated against based not on racial reasons, but for political causes. Their argument was that the two Black districts using Section 2 of the VRA, were unconstitutional. Therefore Section 2 should be thrown out.
In the 2024 election, 83% of Blacks voted Democratic nation-wide. It’s very difficult to separate race from politics. Recent SCOTUS Justice Kavanaugh’s approval of I.C.E. and C.B.P. roundups of brown-skinned, and accented English manual laborers clearly demonstrates that race is still a major issue in the United States, whether SCOTUS conservatives argue to the contrary or not.
After 60 years of the VRA, SCOTUS must decide whether race is still an issue in America in regard to voting. The six conservatives on the Court are strongly considering whether to throw out Section 2. If the six majority SCOTUS justices were to toss Section 2, it would open the “potential to clear the way for a wave of gerrymanders across the South to net Republicans as many as 19 new, safe congressional seats…. Under this argument a majority-black district would support a white Democrat over a Black Republican, thus proving [that]… partisanship, not race, [was] driving the decision.”
In another case in Washington State over Section 2 of the VRA, “A federal judge … [in March 2024] approved new boundaries for a legislative district in the Yakima Valley to enhance the political voice of Latino voters.
But it will have a domino effect, uprooting three Republican senators, including the Latina state senator now representing most of the affected area.” (Jerry Cornfield. “Federal Judge Sets New Boundaries for Yakima Valley Legislative District”: Washington State Standard March 15, 2024).
This federal court decision changed several across-the-state voting legislative districts including the 31st and the 5th districts. Enumclaw was affected because it was moved into the 5th legislative District, a predominantly Democratic district, from the 31st which is a Republican district.
“[Federal Judge] Lasnik, in his order, said ‘shifts of that magnitude are necessary to unite the Latino community of interest in the region.’ And, he continued, the ‘ripple effect they cause’ impacts only 5.5% of the state’s overall population and appears to be a normal redistricting occurrence.”
“In his decision, Lasnik also rebutted the argument of the intervenors that the map was drawn to favor Democratic candidates. ‘The map was not drawn or adopted to favor or discriminate against either political party, but rather to unite the Latino community of interest in the Yakima Valley region,’ Lasnik wrote” (Cornfield).
This decision is currently being appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
If SCOTUS decides to toss Section 2 of the VRA, then these changes will likely be readjusted in the future. Washington State will be affected by the Louisiana v. Callais decision whether we agree with that decision or not. When a long-established law is voided such as Section 2 of the VRA, then the ripples spread even to us.
