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Kagan Warns Election Rulings Threaten Democracy and Voting Power

By Drooid · Oct 21, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Kagan Criticizes Court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the Court’s recent election-law rulings as harmful to democracy.
She warned that Louisiana v. Callais permits maps that dilute Black and Latino voting power.
Kagan condemned the National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission decision for striking down campaign-finance limits.
Kagan delivered the remarks at Catholic University’s law school in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Summary

Trump Seeks Congress

The April court ruling dismantled a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Texas Republicans redrew the congressional map last year to flip Democratic-held House seats.
Democratic-led California reconfigured its districts to target Republican-held seats in response.
President Donald Trump’s Republican Party is seeking to retain control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

History

Historical Context

On June 25, 2013 the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Antonin Scalia, invalidated Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, ending the preclearance formula. Without it, states such as Texas and North Carolina quickly imposed voter-ID rules and, within five years, nearly 1,000 polling places closed. Justice Elena Kagan now warns that cases like Louisiana v. Callais could repeat that erosion before the 2024 midterms.

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Kagan Criticizes Court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the Court’s recent election-law rulings as harmful to democracy.
She warned that Louisiana v. Callais permits maps that dilute Black and Latino voting power.
Kagan condemned the National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission decision for striking down campaign-finance limits.
Kagan delivered the remarks at Catholic University’s law school in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

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