With the demise of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans are racing like mad to dismantle Black districts across the South. On this week’s episode of The Downballot podcast, co-hosts David Nir and David Beard recap all the latest developments, including Donald Trump’s successful ouster of Indiana Republicans who opposed his drive to gerrymander their state, plus GOP efforts to impose new maps in Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee just six months before Election Day.
And just how did we get here? Kevin Morris, a senior research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, tells us all about the history of the Supreme Court’s efforts to undermine voting rights, from Reconstruction through the Roberts court. Since 2013, SCOTUS has repeatedly chipped away at the VRA, with Callais serving as the final blow. Morris warns that the gravest effects are likely to be felt at the state and local level, which have yet to receive the attention they deserve.
