Louisiana v. Callais · ¶194

Congress amended Section 2 to reverse this Court's decision in Bolden that the law barred only intentional racial discrimination in voting. Based on a century of history, Congress determined that such a limited ban would not be enough to protect minority citizens' voting rights. The legislation Congress enacted to correct Bolden emerged from vigorous debate and careful compromise, based mainly on this Court's decision in White. The new law denied a right to proportional representation; it focused instead on the “opportunity” that a given election practice granted minority citizens. But the requisite opportunity was not to be assessed by a State's intent or by its proffered justifications. Rather, the lawfulness of an election practice was to turn on its “results”—on whether it gave minority citizens a lesser chance than their majority neighbors to participate in politics and elect…

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