The Supreme Court Just Finished Off the Voting Rights Act. Republicans Started Gerrymandering Before the Ink Was Dry.

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On April 29, 2026, the United States Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down Louisiana’s congressional map — the one that had been drawn specifically to comply with the Voting Rights Act — as an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion. The six conservative justices agreed that creating a second majority-Black congressional district amounted to impermissible use of race. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the majority had completed “the demolition of the Voting Rights Act.” She was not exaggerating. She was describing what just happened.

What the Court Actually Did.

The case is Louisiana v. Callais, No. 24-109. In 2022, a federal judge found that Louisiana’s congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it packed Black voters into a single district while cracking remaining Black voters across the other five. Louisiana, ordered by the court, drew a new map — SB8 — with a second majority-Black district. That map was actually used in the 2024 elections. Then a group of non-Black voters challenged SB8 as a “racial gerrymander,” and the case reached the Supreme Court.

Here’s where it gets ugly. The Supreme Court expanded the scope of the case beyond what anyone asked for. When the justices scheduled re-argument, they ordered parties to address whether the Constitution even permits the use of race in redistricting to comply with the VRA. The moment they asked that question, the game was over. Louisiana’s Republican attorney general promptly flipped — the state that had drawn the map to comply with the court now argued its own map was unconstitutional.

Alito’s majority opinion held that Section 2 does not require states to create majority-minority districts and therefore provides no “compelling interest” to justify using race in map-drawing. To make a Section 2 claim going forward, plaintiffs now have to prove intentional racial discrimination by the state — something courts have understood for decades is nearly impossible, which is precisely why Congress amended the law in 1982 to create an “effects” test instead. The Court just reversed 44 years of that understanding.

The Demolition Is Complete.

To understand the scope of what happened, you need the timeline. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 had several critical provisions. The Roberts Court has been dismantling them for more than a decade:

2013: Shelby County v. Holder gutted Section 5 — the “preclearance” requirement that forced states with histories of discrimination to get federal approval before changing election laws. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the coverage formula was outdated. Justice Ginsburg warned the majority was throwing away its umbrella in a rainstorm. Within hours, Texas and North Carolina moved to implement voter ID laws that had been blocked.

2023: Allen v. Milligan — the Court actually upheld Section 2 in a 5-4 ruling involving Alabama, ordering the state to draw a second majority-Black district. Chief Justice Roberts joined the liberal justices. It seemed like Section 2 might survive.

2026: Louisiana v. Callais finished the job. The Court didn’t formally “strike down” Section 2 — it just made it functionally impossible to enforce. As Kagan wrote: “Today’s decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.” A state can now draw maps that systematically dilute Black and Latino voting power, and as long as it claims a “race-neutral justification” — say, partisanship or protecting incumbents — it’s untouchable. This isn’t a new pattern. It’s the culmination of one.

They Didn’t Even Wait a Day.

The ruling came down on a Wednesday. By Thursday, Louisiana’s Republican Governor Jeff Landry had suspended the state’s May 16 congressional primaries. He signed an executive order encouraging the legislature to redraw the map — which could eliminate both of Louisiana’s majority-Black districts. State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, the Republican redistricting chair, told the Associated Press his committee is considering “bills that would eliminate one or both of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts.” Trump thanked Landry for acting fast.

Democratic Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana: “We can realistically end up having six congressional districts with no African-American, or Democratic representation. It’s very possible, given what we’ve seen happen across this country.” Louisiana is nearly one-third Black.

By Friday, Alabama and Tennessee had both called their legislatures into special sessions. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey wants to revert to a 2023 map that a federal court had blocked as racially discriminatory. That map could give Republicans a better shot at winning one or both of the seats currently held by Black Democrats. Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Lee — under direct pressure from Trump — is pushing to split up the state’s only Democratic-held district, which covers majority-Black Memphis.

In Florida, a proposed map from Governor DeSantis sailed through the state legislature the same day as the ruling. It would add four more Republican-leaning seats by eliminating or shrinking Democratic-leaning districts in Tampa, Orlando, and southeast Florida. DeSantis’s counsel argued the Supreme Court decision means Florida no longer has to follow the racial requirements in its own state constitution’s “Fair Districts” amendments.

Alabama Erupted.

On May 5, the same day Alabama’s special session began, hundreds of protesters rallied at the Alabama State Capitol — the building where the Confederacy was formed in 1861, and where Martin Luther King Jr. addressed thousands after the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march. Some protesters entered the State House itself. The session was adjourned.

JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama: “This is about, once again, the Legislature attempting to silence the voices of Black Alabamians. We have seen this pattern before. When Black communities build power, there is an effort to redraw the lines, dilute that power, and ensure it does not endure. This is what white supremacy looks like in practice — not always loud, not always explicit, but embedded in decisions that consistently diminish the political power of the historically marginalized and subjugated.”

Protesters carried signs reading “No new map” and “We fight back! Black Voters Matter.” Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones, now running for governor as a Democrat, said Alabama was “ground zero for voting rights, and we are going to be ground zero to make sure we retain those voting rights.” Meanwhile, Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter promoted the Republican map plan as “the voice of the people.”

The Math Is Simple. And Devastating.

CBS News analysis: the states now scrambling to redraw maps could collectively add 1 to 9 more Republican-friendly districts for the 2026 midterms. An analysis by Black Voters Matter Fund estimated that gutting Section 2 could ultimately shift 19 additional House seats to Republicans. Republicans currently hold the House by a single vote. This ruling could lock in their majority for a generation.

The White House called the decision a “complete and total victory.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the court had “ended Louisiana’s long-running nightmare of federal courts coercing the state to draw a racially discriminatory map.” In other words: being forced to let Black people elect their own representatives was the nightmare. Ending that requirement is the victory.

Representative Terri Sewell: “Today, the far-right Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to our democracy and to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It will pave the way for the greatest reduction in representation for Black and minority voters since the years following Reconstruction.”

This Was Always the Plan.

None of this is an accident. The DOJ has already been demanding voter files from 47 states while Republicans pursue mid-decade redistricting. The SAVE Act targets voter eligibility. The Supreme Court has been rejecting civil rights claims at a historic rate. This ruling didn’t come out of nowhere — it’s the capstone of a multi-decade project to dismantle the legal infrastructure that protects minority voting power. And it worked. Section 5 is dead. Section 2 is now effectively dead. The 1965 Voting Rights Act — the law that John Lewis bled for on the Edmund Pettus Bridge — has been gutted by six unelected justices who have never had to fight for the right to vote.

The gerrymander rush has already begun. Elections are being cancelled. Maps are being redrawn. Protesters are being removed from state buildings. And the president of the United States is cheering it on.

Congress could pass new voting rights legislation to restore what the Court destroyed. Don’t hold your breath.

Sources.

1. U.S. Supreme Court: Louisiana v. Callais, No. 24-109 (opinion PDF) — April 29, 2026. Full opinion. Alito majority; Kagan dissent joined by Sotomayor and Jackson. Section 2 does not require majority-minority districts; state must show “intentional discrimination.”
2. Politico: Supreme Court limits Voting Rights Act — April 29, 2026. Kagan read portions of her dissent from the bench; Court “eviscerate the law.” Historical context of 1982 congressional amendment.
3. CBS News: What states could try to redistrict and add more GOP seats — April 30, 2026. State-by-state breakdown: Louisiana (+1–2 R), Florida (+4 R), Alabama (+1 R), Tennessee (+1 R), Mississippi (+1 R). Analysis of 1–9 seats for 2026 midterms. Trump praised Landry. Troy Carter quotes.
4. Democracy Now: Supreme Court Guts Voting Rights Act in “Devastating Blow” — April 30, 2026. Maya Wiley interview. Rep. Terri Sewell quote. Section 5 history. Context of decades-long dismantling of VRA.
5. Zeteo: BREAKING: Supreme Court Guts Key Voting Rights Protection — April 29, 2026. Black Voters Matter Fund analysis: 19 potential additional GOP seats. State can “announce a partisan gerrymander” as shield. Impact on 2026 midterms.
6. ABC News/AP: Tennessee Republicans will consider redrawing US House district — May 5, 2026. Tennessee special session May 6. Alabama special session May 5 — protesters entered State House; session adjourned. Louisiana redistricting plans. Trump encouraging redistricting.
7. Alabama Political Reporter: Protestors rally as special session begins — May 5, 2026. HB1 contingency framework. ACLU of Alabama’s JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist quote. Ledbetter: “voice of the people.” Court injunction bars redrawing until 2030.
8. National Center for Lesbian Rights: The Supreme Court Just Gutted 60-Year-Old VRA Protections — April 29, 2026. Kagan: “eviscerate[d] the law.” States already moving. Florida, Mississippi named. “No civil rights protection is safe.”