The justices rule in a North Carolina case that there is no duty todraw voting districts that would elect black candidates in areas whereblacks are less than a majority.
The decision arose under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the landmarklaw that made voting rights a reality for blacks in the South. Untilpassage of the act, states and counties had used schemes to bar blacksfrom registering and casting ballots.
But the portions of the act that deal with election districts haveproved more confusing and controversial. In 1982, Congress revised thelaw to say states may not deprive minority voters of the opportunity to”elect representatives of their choice.”
Until Monday, there has been a dispute over how to read that requirement.
On the one hand, the court agreed that lawmakers may not divide up asolidly minority community and thereby deprive black or Latino votersof electing the “representative of their choice.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said theruling “dealt a serious blow to the progress of the civil rightsmovement” by limiting the application of the Voting Rights Act.