![]() ![]() The law, Thomas said, "demands no such thing, and, if it did, the Constitution would not permit it." Why does the Supreme Court's voting decision matter? The question, Thomas wrote, is whether the Voting Rights Act "requires the State of Alabama to intentionally redraw its longstanding congressional districts so that Black voters can control a number of seats roughly proportional to the black share of the state's population." Justice Clarence Thomas, in a dissent joined by three other conservatives, said the court's decision laid bare the gulf between a "color-blind" Constitution and what he has described as the "consciously segregated districting system" in place today. "The line that we have drawn is between consciousness and predominance," he wrote. Instead, it's a more nuanced approach where states shouldn't let race be the primary factor in deciding how to draw boundaries but it should be considered. Roberts wrote that Alabama's argument that mapmakers must be "entirely 'blind' to race has no footing in our" earlier decisions. What the Supreme Court said in major voting decision The decision means the state will have to redraw the map it used in the 2022 midterm election, likely to include a second district made up of a majority of African American voters. Roberts' opinion, joined by the court's three-justice liberal wing and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, framed Alabama's argument that race shouldn't come into play in the decision-making as inconsistent with the court's precedents. ![]() The decision means states will have to remain mindful of the impact on race when drawing political boundaries. The 5-4 decision by Chief Justice John Roberts was a win for voting rights groups and a break with past decisions from the conservative court that have limited the scope of the landmark Voting Rights Act. WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday unexpectedly ruled against Alabama in a challenge to its recently redrawn congressional districts, smacking down an argument for "color-blind" boundaries that voting rights advocates feared could have significantly diluted the power of Black voters throughout much of the nation. ![]()
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