It’s the last week of early voting for the Georgia primary elections. But shortly before the first ballot was cast, the conservative-led U.S. Supreme Court gutted a crucial portion of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. It was passed in the Jim Crow-era and it’s designed to prevent racial discrimination in elections. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark act alongside Atlanta’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The ruling struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana. It now makes it tougher for voters across the U.S. to challenge redistricting plans that could dilute the political power of minority communities — also known as gerrymandering.
“That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority, with the dissent from the court’s three liberals.
Now, voters who wish to challenge gerrymandering would have to prove intentional racial discrimination.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who’s also running in the Republican primary for governor, sat down with WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss his support of the ruling, and potential future plans to redraw Georgia’s congressional and state legislative lines.
