Democratic-aligned voting rights organizations are bracing for what they describe as a potential crisis if the U.S. Supreme Court moves to weaken a central provision of the Voting Rights Act, one of the nation’s cornerstone civil rights laws.
The concern centers on Louisiana v. Callais, a case the justices heard on October 15. The outcome could determine the future of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits redistricting plans that dilute the voting power of racial minorities.
Two prominent voting rights groups have warned that striking down or narrowing Section 2 would allow Republican-controlled legislatures to redraw as many as 19 congressional districts in their favor, Politico reported.
That projection — outlined in a new report from Fair Fight Action and the Black Voters Matter Fund and shared exclusively with POLITICO — suggests that striking down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act could all but ensure continued Republican control of the House of Representatives.
While a ruling before next year’s midterm elections remains uncertain, the organizations behind the report said it is still possible. In total, the groups identified 27 congressional seats nationwide that could be redrawn to favor Republicans if current legal and political conditions hold — with 19 of those shifts directly tied to the potential elimination of Section 2 protections.Doing so would “clear the path for a one-party system where power serves the powerful and silences the people,” Black Voters Matter Fund co-founder LaTosha Brown claimed, without addressing the constitutional impropriety of drawing congressional districts based solely on race – which is the issue before the high court.
Republicans have for years sought to limit or dismantle Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting laws and redistricting. They argue that the provision unfairly benefits Democrats by requiring the creation of minority-majority districts that often lean Democratic.
The Supreme Court has previously rejected those arguments, but voting rights advocates fear the upcoming Louisiana v. Callais case could mark a turning point.
Democrats, meanwhile, could also seek to capitalize on any changes to the law by redrawing district lines in deeply Democratic states where VRA protections still apply. However, analysts say such opportunities would be limited compared with the broader redistricting advantages that Republican-controlled legislatures could gain, Politico added.
Under current law, the Voting Rights Act is used in redistricting to prevent racial gerrymandering that weakens the influence of minority voters. States typically comply by drawing districts that give racial and ethnic minority communities a fair opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.
However, many election law experts anticipate that the Supreme Court could narrow the scope of the VRA in its upcoming ruling, potentially triggering significant shifts in congressional representation across the South, noted Politico.
According to the report, such a decision could result in Democratic lawmakers being ousted entirely from states such as Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Other states — including Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and Florida — would likely retain at least one Democratic member of Congress, but their overall Democratic representation would shrink considerably.
The report is being released as Republicans undertake a nationwide redistricting push ahead of the midterm elections — a strategy that has received strong backing from the White House and could help the GOP preserve its slim House majority. The mid-cycle redraws, while uncommon, are not without precedent and have already produced six additional Republican-leaning districts across two states.
Several other GOP-led states are expected to follow suit, a number that could grow substantially if key protections under the Voting Rights Act are rolled back.
In response, Fair Fight Action and the Black Voters Matter Fund are urging Democrats to mount an “aggressive and immediate” counterstrategy to combat Republican redistricting maneuvers already in motion.
In New Zealand, a meeting run crash killed a high schooler driver and his co-driver.
Young person Brooklyn Horan and 35-year-old Tyson Jemmett were the two individuals who unfortunately kicked the bucket.
At the point when Horan and Jemmet’s vehicle collided with a waterway at the Shangri-la Street Rallysprint in Paparoa, they were hustling.
As indicated by a police specialist, the vehicle went off the rock street and into an overflowed stream.
Specialists on call articulated the two of them dead at the scene.
MotorSport New Zealand made it official that Horan was in the driver’s seat of the vehicle when it crashed.
New Zealanders can’t get a driver’s permit until they are 16 years of age, however more youthful drivers can contend in certain circumstances.
MotorSport New Zealand’s site says that the lesser driver program “implies that individuals matured 12 to 16 can get a rivalry permit.”
MotorSport says that youthful drivers frequently partake in these sorts of rivalries.
The association has said, however, that it will do a full examination.
“The occasion occurred on Shangri-la Street in Paparoa which was shut to the general population for the span of the occasion under the power of the neighborhood Street Controlling Power,” an assertion from MotorSport said.
“It is too soon in the examination to remark on what the vitally contributing variables to the accident were, be that as it may, it doesn’t appear to be like the street was in an impeding or dangerous condition.”
“Our contemplations are with the families and companions of these two contenders and everybody engaged with the Utopia Street Rallysprint,” said Wayne Christie, leader of Motorsport New Zealand.
“This horrendous misfortune will, in actuality, shock and upset everybody in the motorsports world.”
“We will offer help to that large number of engaged with the next few days.”
A many individuals have been honoring the two via online entertainment.
In the wake of catching wind of the two-casualty crash, Hyden Paddon, victor of the World Meeting Title, went on X to say how sorry he is.
He said, “What a miserable occasion yesterday! Two extraordinary individuals were taken too early.”
“Tyson was a gigantic convention fan and family man, and Brooklyn Horan was one of the most intriguing youthful meeting stars who planned to become wildly successful.”
“Your profession might have just barely been beginning however you had previously made some meaningful difference.”
Winger Motorsport stated: “For sake of the group at Winger Motorsport, we send our sympathies to the loved ones of Brooklyn Horan and his co-driver Tyson.”
(1Eighty Dashing) added, “Such a characteristic ability! Your family is in our viewpoints and you will be remembered fondly on the track.
While Hodgson Motorsport stated, “It was with crushing sadness that we heard the letting the cat out of the bag that Brooklyn passed on while doing the very thing our families cherished together.”
“It’s occasions such as these that you recall that the game we picked accompanies the most noteworthy of ups and the least of downs.”
“Brooklyn you were an astonishing kind cherishing blissful youngster and that hadn’t changed years some other time when we ran into each other again back at going romping last year, the saucy grin was as yet unchanged, you had quite recently grown a weeee bit taller.”
His significant other, Lucy, is pregnant with their most memorable youngster and will miss him definitely.
A portion of his old collaborators have begun a pledge drive to help his better half and unborn youngster.