Louisiana v. Callais · ¶189

The Gingles preconditions yet further anchor Section 2 suits in the here-and-now by working as built-in sunset clauses. The first precondition is met only if a racial group is (in the present) geographically concentrated. See supra, at 144–145. That means as residential segregation decreases in a State, Section 2 becomes unavailable as a remedy. See Allen, 599 U. S., at 28–29. Similarly, the second and third preconditions can be satisfied only if voting (again, in the present) is racially polarized. See supra, at 144–145. So as racial bloc voting recedes, Section 2 ceases to operate. And racial desegregation and depolarization are not just possible in theory; they are happening in fact—and at speed— in many parts of the country. See Brief for Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos as Amicus Curiae 16–29. Consistent with those trends, the number of successful Section 2 vote- dilution suits (always…

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