Experts: Weakened Voting Rights Act makes it 'virtually impossible' to prove racist intent

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May 7th, 2026

On the left is Lyndon B Johnson shaking the hand of Martin Luther King. On the right is the Supreme Court
President Lyndon B. Johnson marked the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 along with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, more than 60 years later, experts say the law's protections have been weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision. (Yoichi Okamoto/Lyndon B. Johnson Library/Phung Touch)

Ahead of the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson told Congress that Black Americans were not fully free until they were fully free to vote. With the passage of the law in August of that year, it banned Jim Crow-era racial discrimination at the ballot box. Civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for the measure and was present for the signing. 

Now, more than 60 years later, the United States Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision of Louisiana v. Callais, has invalidated a section of the Voting Rights Act.

“The central issue here was whether a ruling that allowed the redrawing of maps to ensure that Black voters in Louisiana would be fairly represented and have two districts instead of one voting district,” said Georgia State University constitutional law professor Tanya Washington. “Whether that was constitutional, whether that fell within what is permissible under the Voting Rights Act.”

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