SCOTUS 6–3 Decision on Racial Gerrymandering


Representative Josh Williams

I'm a black Republican who currently represents a majority-white district in the Ohio State House and is running to represent a majority-white district in Congress.

The idea that black Americans need special districts carved out just for them is complete nonsense. It's a violation of the law and blatantly unconstitutional.

Glad the Supreme Court made the right decision.

… As I explained more than 30 years ago, I would go further and hold that §2 of the Voting Rights Act does not regulate districting at all. The relevant text prohibits States from imposing or applying a “voting qualification,” “prerequisite to voting,” or “standard, practice, or procedure,” in a manner that results in a denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race. 52 U. S. C. §10301(a). How States draw district lines does not fall within any of those three categories. The words in §2 instead “reach only ‘enactments that regulate citizens’ access to the ballot or the processes for counting a ballot’; they ‘do not include a State’s . . . choice of one districting scheme over another.’” Therefore, no §2 challenge to districting should ever succeed.”

… “partisanship” rather than explicit “racial bias.” And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.

The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers - not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election and every level.

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