Story perspectives

Supreme Court Rejects Majority-Minority Mandate, GOP Redraws Southern Maps

5/2/2026

Center

Tuberville Redraws Maps

The April 29 ruling sparked a wave of state redistricting efforts targeting majority-minority districts.
Supreme Court ruled Voting Rights Act does not require majority-minority districts and mandates breach Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Senator Tommy Tuberville and Mississippi and Louisiana governors will redraw maps favoring Republicans.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said contest redraws, develop maps in New York and Colorado.

Left

Supreme Court Curbs

Civil-rights groups warn the ruling could spark state maps erasing majority-minority districts and suppressing Black and Latino voting power.
Supreme Court ruled Voting Rights Act need not create majority-minority districts and that mandates breach Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
California AG Rob Bonta said ruling endangers minority voters, though it won’t affect California’s districts.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote courts must treat partisan advantage as race-neutral, stripping Section 2’s racial-gerrymandering guard.

History

Historical Context

In June 25 2013 the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, declared Section 4(b)’s coverage formula of the 1965 Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, effectively disabling the preclearance requirement of Section 5. The decision ended federal oversight of jurisdictions like Alabama and Mississippi, prompting a surge in state-level voting-law changes and renewed civil-rights lawsuits.

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Tuberville Redraws Maps

The April 29 ruling sparked a wave of state redistricting efforts targeting majority-minority districts.
Supreme Court ruled Voting Rights Act does not require majority-minority districts and mandates breach Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Senator Tommy Tuberville and Mississippi and Louisiana governors will redraw maps favoring Republicans.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said contest redraws, develop maps in New York and Colorado.

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