https://www.axios.com/2022/10/04/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-merrill-milliganThe Supreme Court on Tuesday is hearing arguments in an Alabama redistricting case that could further erode the landmark Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in voting.
Why it matters: It puts on the chopping block a portion of the act that civil rights groups and minority voters have relied on for decades to challenge racially discriminatory redistricting maps.
The ruling could also carry implications for how other states draw their own congressional maps.
>What the Supreme Court is considering in Merrill v. Milligan The Supreme Court is weighing Alabama's 2021 congressional redistricting map, drawn by the state's GOP-legislature after the 2020 census.
The congressional map gave Black voters — about 27% of the state — the majority in just one of the state's seven congressional districts, AP notes.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of voters argued that the maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires that states provide minority voters with "an equal opportunity to participate in the political process," by diluting Black voter strength.
The state has defended the Republican-drawn map, saying that it is taking a "race neutral" approach to redistricting and it is asking the court to overturn a lower court decision, per AP.
>How the Alabama case got to the Supreme Court — and what they're saying A three-judge lower court, including two appointees of former President Trump, in January said Alabama's congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
"The appropriate remedy is a congressional redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice," the judges said in a 225-page ruling.
