Will SCOTUS Voting Rights Act ruling disenfranchise voters?

Will SCOTUS Voting Rights Act ruling disenfranchise voters?

From The Excerpt by USA TODAY

May 8, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act and its potential impact on Black voters and district maps.

Last week, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will likely impact Black voters for generations. The 6-3 decision, which split along conservative and liberal lines, essentially nullified section 2 of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color or language minority status. In its wake, Louisiana, Tennessee and other states are redrawing their district maps, even though primary voting in some cases is already underway. The ramifications will reverberate for decades. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Bart Jansen joins The Excerpt to help unpack this story. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to  podcasts@usatoday.com .  Episode transcript  available here .  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Guest: Bart Jansen

Topics covered

  • Voting Rights
  • Supreme Court
  • Disenfranchisement
  • Black Voters
  • District Maps
  • Political Impact

Keywords

  • Voting Rights Act
  • Supreme Court ruling
  • Black voters
  • disenfranchisement
  • district maps
  • Louisiana
  • Tennessee
  • political ramifications

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USA TODAY, Supreme Court, Voting Rights Act

Places: Louisiana, Tennessee

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