Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling Affects Local Maps in 17 Cases

The Supreme Court's recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais has shifted the legal standard for Voting Rights Act Section 2 claims, requiring proof of intentional racial discrimination rather than effects alone. This change affects ongoing challenges to voting maps and election systems in at least 17 state and local governments, according to an NPR analysis of federal court records.

Most of the remaining cases involve Southern jurisdictions where voting patterns often split along racial lines between white majorities and Black minorities. Latino voters have filed Section 2 lawsuits over Washington's state legislative map and a Pennsylvania school district's at-large election system.

Native American voters are challenging North Dakota's legislative map. The new standard makes it harder for plaintiffs to prove that districts dilute minority voting power or to justify majority-minority districts. Lawyers in multiple cases are now preparing briefs on how the ruling applies to their claims.

Challengers must now separate race from partisan preference when showing racially polarized voting, but partisan election data is often unavailable at the local level. This requirement creates additional obstacles for Section 2 claims involving municipal governments and school boards.

Legal experts note that Section 2 has historically been used most successfully in local cases to create compact districts where minority voters can elect preferred candidates. The ruling may encourage more challenges to existing majority-minority districts on partisan grounds.

The Justice Department has moved away from enforcing Voting Rights Act claims on behalf of racial minorities and dropped several cases begun under the prior administration. A group of Black voters in Georgia's Houston County has continued one such case after the federal government withdrew.

In Fayette County, Tennessee, a county agreed to a new map with three majority-Black districts out of ten after a Section 2 lawsuit, but local observers are watching for possible future changes. " — North Carolina state Rep.