Supreme Court seems inclined to limit race-based electoral districts under the Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to gut a key tool of the Voting Rights Act that has helped root out racial discrimination in voting for more than a half century, a change that would boost Republican electoral prospects, particularly across the South.

During 2 1/2 hours of arguments, the court's six conservative justices seemed inclined to effectively strike down a Black majority congressional district in Louisiana because it relied too heavily on race.

Such an outcome would mark a fundamental change in the 1965 voting rights law, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, that succeeded in opening the ballot box to Black Americans and reducing persistent discrimination in voting.

A ruling for Louisiana could open the door for legislatures to redraw congressional maps in southern states, helping Republican electoral prospects by eliminating majority Black and Latino districts that tend to favor Democrats. Legislatures already are free to draw extremely partisan districts, subject only to review by state courts, because of a 2019 Supreme Court decision.

Just two years ago, the court, by a 5-4 vote, affirmed a ruling that found a likely violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a similar case over Alabama’s political boundaries. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined their three more liberal colleagues in the outcome.

Roberts and Kavanaugh struck a different tone Wednesday, especially in their questions to civil rights lawyer Janai Nelson.

The chief justice suggested the Alabama decision was tightly focused on its facts and should not be read to require a similar outcome in Louisiana.

Kavanaugh pressed Nelson on whether the time has come to end the use of race-based districts under the Voting Rights Act, rather than “allowing it to extend forever.”

The court's liberal justices focused on the history of the Voting Rights Act in combating discrimination. Getting to the remedy of redrawing districts only happens if, as Justice Elena Kagan said, a court finds "a specific identified, proved violation of law.”

A mid-decade battle over congressional redistricting already is playing out across the nation after Republican President Donald Trump began urging Texas and other GOP-controlled states to redraw their lines to make it easier for the GOP to hold its narrow majority in the House.

The court's conservative majority has been skeptical of considerations of race, most recently ending affirmative action in college admissions. Twelve years ago, the court bludgeoned another pillar of the landmark voting law that required states with a history of racial discrimination to get advance approval from the Justice Department or federal judges before making election-related changes.

The court has separately given state legislatures wide berth to gerrymander for political purposes. If the Supreme Court now weakens or strikes down the Voting Rights Act's Section 2, states would not be bound by any limits in how they draw electoral districts. Such a result would be expected to lead to extreme gerrymandering by whichever party is in power at the state level.

The court's Alabama decision in 2023 led to new districts there and in Louisiana that sent two more Black Democrats to Congress.

Now, though, the court has asked the parties to answer a fundamental question: “Whether the state’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”

Louisiana and the Trump administration joined with a group of white voters in arguing to invalidate the challenged district and make it much harder to claim discrimination in redistricting.

The arguments led Justice Sonia Sotomayor to assert that the administration's “bottom line is just get rid of Section 2.”

Justice Department lawyer Hashim Mooppan disagreed and said state lawmakers would have no incentive to get rid of every majority Black district because doing so would create swing districts and imperil some Republican incumbents.

In addition, Mooppan said, only 15 of the 60 Black members of the House represent majority Black districts. “But even if you eliminated Section 2 entirely, fully 75% of the Black congressmen in this country are in districts that are not protected by Section 2.”

In the first arguments in the Louisiana case in March, Roberts sounded skeptical of the second majority Black district, which last year elected Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields. Roberts described the district as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to link parts of the Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas.

The court fight over Louisiana’s congressional districts has lasted three years.

The state’s Republican-dominated legislature drew a new congressional map in 2022 to account for population shifts reflected in the 2020 census. But the changes effectively maintained the status quo of five Republican-leaning majority white districts and one Democratic-leaning majority Black district.

Civil rights advocates won a lower-court ruling that the districts likely discriminated against Black voters.

The state eventually drew a new map to comply with the court ruling and protect its influential Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. But white Louisiana voters claimed in their separate lawsuit that race was the predominant factor driving it. A three-judge court agreed, leading to the current high court case.

The court is expected to rule by early summer in 2026.

Follow the AP's coverage of the Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, right, leaves the Supreme Court after giving arguments in the case drawing new congressional district boundaries, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Janai Nelson, front center, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who was arguing on behalf of a group of Black voters speaks with the news media after departing the court, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts speaks during lecture to the Georgetown Law School graduating class of 2025, in Washington, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

FILE - President Lyndon Johnson, at podium, speaks in the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, before to signing the Voting Rights Act, Aug. 6, 1965. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Students and a member of the Zulu Tramps march to a campus polling place on Election Day at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes across the Middle East are quickly dragging Europe in, forcing the continent into defensive action to protect military bases and evacuate citizens caught up in the conflict.

The Middle East is home to some of Europe's key trading partners, and a number of strategic trading routes. Many Europeans live in cities such as Beirut, Dubai or Jerusalem, while large communities from countries including Turkey, Egypt and the Gulf states have settled across Europe. Europeans weren’t consulted on this U.S.-Israeli operation but are now dealing with the fallout.

While refusing to directly join the war, Britain, France and Germany have said they would work with the United State to help stop Iran’s attacks. The U.K. will allow U.S. forces to use British bases to attack Iran’s missiles and launch sites.

But Europe itself is not immune. Cyprus, holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, had to insist that it was not involved in the conflict after a Shahed-type drone damaged a U.K. air base on the island’s southern coast over the weekend. The Shaheds were developed by Iran but have already been used in Europe, by Russia in its war on Ukraine.

Wary of other attacks at home, some European countries are also beefing up security at train stations and airports.

Still, almost no European leader has criticized the U.S.-Israeli attacks. Many are satisfied to see the downfall of an Iranian regime that has for years arrested European citizens and challenged Europe’s economic interests.

Spain has been a rare dissenting voice. “One can be against a hateful regime,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday, “and at the same time, be against a military intervention that is unjustifiable, dangerous and outside of international law.”

At the same time, helping to foster stability in the volatile Middle East region is a European priority. Fears over a sustained hike in oil prices, and the possibility of a new wave of unpredictable migration mean that the continent must remain involved.

Europe’s major short-term priority is ensuring the safety of thousands of citizens caught up in the war as it spreads.

Concerns about getting people out were raised during an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers over the weekend. No joint evacuation effort was launched, but one could be needed imminently.

Germany says that about 30,000 German tourists are stuck on cruise ships, in hotels or at closed airports and cannot get back home because of the conflict. Most of them are in the Middle East but some are further afield, stranded because their travel connections run through Abu Dhabi, Qatar or Dubai. A military evacuation was not possible due to airspace closures.

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, has sent two planes to Egypt and Jordan to bring home Czech nationals, dozens of whom have traveled by bus from Israel. Another four planes were to be sent to Oman to pick up more of the estimated 6,700 Czechs in the region.

Iran has been threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, and ships have been attacked there. Calls have mounted for the EU to help protect merchant vessels.

In response, France was sending two more warships to beef up Operation Aspides, the bloc’s naval mission in the region. But they would only deploy to the distant Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — gateways to the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean — to join three other ships already in place.

Operation Aspides was set up two years ago, to help defend maritime traffic against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. But while the Houthis have expressed support for Iran, they did not immediately announce any military action on its behalf.

Discussion is underway on a review of the operation’s mandate and a possible toughening of its rules of engagement, but no changes are expected soon.

Maintaining stability in the wider Middle East is a key European concern. Iran’s acts of retaliation in several countries have been widely condemned.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is expected to convene a meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council countries at foreign minister level later this week, as the bloc continues to try to reassure Iran’s neighbors and other vulnerable countries nearby.

“Iran’s attacks of a number of countries in the Middle East are inexcusable. The events must not lead to further escalation that could threaten the region, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences,” Kallas said after chairing Sunday’s emergency talks.

The EU intends to drive diplomatic efforts to help reduce tensions, and still aims to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons despite its nuclear development deal falling apart after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an interview that the United States’ and Israel’s war against Iran is crucial for security in Europe. He said the allies could support the effort even without direct involvement in military operations, through logistics and access.

Rutte, a former prime minister of the Netherlands, said he unreservedly approves of Trump’s decision to attack Iran and kill its supreme leader, raising the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

“It would be a stranglehold on Israel. It could potentially mean Israel’s defeat,” Rutte told German public broadcaster ARD in its Brussels studio on Monday.

When asked the possibility of NATO entering the war, Rutte said absolutely no one believed that NATO would be involved. “This is Iran, this is the Gulf, this is outside NATO territory,” he said.

NATO troops deployed for 18 years to Afghanistan and its 2011 air campaign helped topple Libya’s late leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Officials say the EU has no preferred candidate to take over in Tehran, and in any case it’s too early to tell who might be best to back as future leader. The foreign ministers primarily expressed “solidarity with the Iranian people.”

They offered support to “their fundamental aspirations for a future where their universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are fully respected.”

The Europeans insist that a genuine popular movement against the regime arose in recent months but that it was shut down in an unprecedented wave of violence. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands detained.

One thing is clear. The EU is unlikely to back any leadership pushed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The IRGC was added the bloc’s terror list last month, making it almost impossible for the Europeans to take them seriously as an interlocutor.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A Fighter Jet takes off from the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base after it was hit by a drone strike early morning near Limassol, Cyprus, Monday, March, 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A traveler checks departure times as many flights are cancelled at Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, as many airlines canceled flights due to the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)