Supreme Court ruling has ‘huge’ implications for voting rights

In a decision split along ideological lines, the United States Supreme Court Monday overturned almost entirely a lower court ruling that had invalidated several political districts in Texas for harming the voting power of racial minorities.

These final weeks of the Supreme Court’s term have been defined by narrow technical rulings in contentious cases on issues such as partisan gerrymandering and religious liberty. Today’s decision on racial gerrymandering in Texas veers from that pattern, experts say. Less than two years away from a new round of redistricting, it could have significant implications for voting rights lawsuits.

“There was a lot of evidence of discriminatory intent in the [Texas] map that the [high] court sort of ignored,” says Michael Li, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, “and today’s ruling shows a huge presumption of good faith even in a situation like Texas.”

The decision could have “huge ramifications for voting rights law more generally, well beyond Texas,” he adds…

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