By: Ellen Wang

The unexpected halt of the reaffirming the 1965 Voting Acts Right happened recently. The act was a law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which aimed to prevent local authority from barring African Americans to vote . This monumental law was one the laws that, in its time, had completely reformed American politics by removing color barriers in the voting booth for many people of color.

Back in 2013, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. gave the Justice Department the right to veto election methods for states that have a record of severe racial discrimination. This means that local levels have no right to bar people of color from the voting booth. However, an assessment was written in 2021 by Justice Samuel Alito drastically lowered the authority the Department had over these states.

As political supporters awaited the ax over monopolized district maps, the Allen v. Milligan case was argued over in which Alabama had illegally limited Black voters’ leverage over the House seats. Yet Chief Justice Roberts had ruled in favor of authorizing the law’s power over the racially skewered voting district maps.

Despite Chief Justice Roberts and another conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh not being the most passionate about overturing the idea that the law as authority over local governments, their votes were still crucial in a court where a margin could be as slim as just one vote. Due to that, many supporters of the cause were unexpectedly overjoyed to see the support coming from Chief Justice Roberts, who had previously been incredibly doubtful of this Act.

However, this was all still a sword hanging by a thread, and unsheathed. Many crucial figures call the ruling a ‘completely unanticipated argument, an incredible strong opinion.’