The Supreme Court of the United States.
Discrimination in voting on the basis of race is forbidden by the 15th Amendment and by the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which since 1965 has protected the vote. Although Alabama’s African American citizens are 27% of the state’s population, the state sends only one Black representative to Congress in its seven member delegation. We believe that the Supreme Court erred seriously in vacating an injunction against use of a newly drawn map in Alabama. The burden on the state to quickly redraw its map, and possibly revise dates related to an upcoming primary does not outweigh the public interest in making certain that the votes of African Americans who have never had representation equivalent to their potential voting strength are not diluted under the VRA.
In Merrill v. Milligan, a three-judge district court found last month that the Legislature’s newly drawn map discriminated by race and violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 USC 10301. That measure provides, in part “A violation … is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens .”
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