The court’s conservative majority said they had upheld the landmark law, as liberal justices accused them of gutting it. In striking down a Louisiana voting map as a racial gerrymander, the court opened the door for other states to redraw their maps.
The Florida House of Representatives on Wednesday.Credit…Mike Stewart/Associated Press
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The Florida House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to approve an aggressive new map that would redraw the state’s congressional districts and could give Republicans up to four new seats.
The vote came about an hour after the Supreme Court issued a decision limiting a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; the case was the main justification that Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, used to redraw Florida’s map.
Martin Luther King III assailed the ruling as weakening “the crown jewel of the civil rights movement,” a reference to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a statement with his wife, Arndrea Waters King, he said the ruling went beyond a legal setback and was “a moral indictment that reflects a continued retreat from the promise of equal justice.”
“While future courts may address this ruling, the damage is immediate,” the Kings said, “and this moment demands that we choose whether to accept the erosion of our democracy or stand together to defend it.”
Voters casting ballots in Miami in 2024. Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed a new map that would give Republicans more House seats. Credit…Scott McIntyre for The New York Times
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Perhaps nowhere in the country was the timing of the Supreme Court decision more dramatic than in Florida, where just as the ruling was announced, state lawmakers were debating an aggressive new congressional map that could give Republicans up to four additional seats.
In the State House, Democrats called for a two-hour break to digest the decision. Republicans disagreed and raced to pass the map. In the State Senate, the Republican Senate president briefly paused the proceedings to give lawmakers a little time to read the court decision.
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A series of rulings by the justices has weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Credit…Eric Lee for The New York Times
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