US supreme court ‘demolishes’ Voting Rights Act | First Thing

Ruling has gutted provision intended to prevent racial discrimination in voting.

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Good morning.

The US supreme court hashttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/29/supreme-court-louisiana-congressional-map-case-ruling"> gutted a major section of the Voting Rights Act through a landmark decision on Louisiana’s congressional map, in a major upheaval in US civil rights law that threatens to weaken the voting power of minorities.

How have lawmakers reacted? Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures, who are now at risk of losing their seats in Alabama’s Black congressional districts, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/29/black-lawmakers-supreme-court-voting-rights-ruling">have decried the decision as sending the nation “backwards”.

How did the ruling come to pass? It is the culmination of justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito’s https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-roberts-alito">joint campaign to roll back civil rights legislation.

How could midterm maps be changed by redistricting? While the supreme court decision leaves little time to redraw maps ahead of the midterms, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/nov/02/us-redistrcting-congressional-map">here is what midterm maps could look like if both parties achieve all their current redistricting ambitions.