Supreme Court weakens Voting Rights Act in latest divisive ruling on race and elections

The US Supreme Court has once again weakened key protections in the Voting Rights Act. A long-running debate among justices over race and voting laws has shaped this latest decision. Conservatives on the court, including Samuel Alito and John Roberts, argue that race-based legal fixes have gone too far in addressing discrimination. Alito’s stance on voting rights stretches back decades. As a teenager, he opposed a Supreme Court ruling that established the one person, one vote principle. Since joining the court in 2006, he has consistently questioned federal intervention in elections, favouring a narrow view of the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act.

His focus has often centred on Section 2 of the Act, which bans discriminatory voting practices. Alongside Chief Justice Roberts, who arrived in 2005, Alito has led a series of rulings that reduced the law’s impact. Their decisions have chipped away at protections meant to prevent racial bias in elections. In the latest case, the court further limited the Act’s reach. Justice Elena Kagan warned that the core of the law had been ‘effectively demolished.’ Alito rejected her assessment, insisting the Act should only apply to deliberate discrimination—not broader disparities in voting access.

The ruling marks another step in the court’s shift away from robust voting rights enforcement. With Alito and Roberts at the forefront, the Voting Rights Act now covers far less than it once did. Future challenges to election laws will face a higher bar for proving discrimination.