Warnock blasts Supreme Court ruling as devastating blow to Voting Rights Act

Raphael Warnock called the Supreme Court's April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais a "massive and devastating blow" to the Voting Rights Act, saying it will make it easier for states to redraw maps that blunt Black voting power. Speaking on Face the Nation on May 3, the Georgia Democrat said the ruling had "poured fuel on this redistricting arms race" and warned that people of color in the South would feel the sharpest effects.

The 6-3 ruling struck down Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district and said race-conscious line drawing used to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional in this case. Louisiana had adopted SB8 after a federal court found its earlier 2022 map likely violated Section 2 because it lacked an additional majority-Black district. The new map was then challenged as a racial gerrymander, and the court concluded that compliance with Section 2 did not justify the use of race in redrawing the lines.

The practical effect reaches far beyond Louisiana. The district at issue, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, stretched more than 200 miles and linked parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Chief Justice John Roberts had previously described it as a "snake," while Justice Elena Kagan said the ruling puts Section 2's achievement "in peril." Election-law expert Nicholas Stephanopoulos has estimated that nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by Section 2, which means the decision could make it harder for minority communities to challenge maps that dilute their voting strength.

The timing also matters. The ruling could aid Republican efforts to control the House by opening the door to more redistricting nationwide, with the effects possibly felt more strongly in 2028 because most filing deadlines for this year's congressional races have already passed. Louisiana's governor issued an emergency order halting primary voting on House races after the ruling, a sign of the immediate disruption. Warnock linked the case to Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 decision that ended the Voting Rights Act's preclearance formula for certain jurisdictions, and said Congress should restore those protections for some Southern states. He called the post-Shelby tactics "21st-century Jim Crow tactics in new clothes," while Barack Obama said the majority seemed intent on abandoning the court's role in ensuring equal participation in democracy.