How the Voting Rights Act ruling threatens Asian American political power

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision narrowing the Voting Rights Act lands as Asian Americans, the nation’s fastest-growing racial group, are only beginning to build the geographic concentration needed to elect representatives of their choice.

The country’s Asian population, including those who identify as multiracial, reached nearly 26 million in 2023, with more than half concentrated in California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Washington, according to Census Bureau data. About 15 million Asian Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 election, representing the electorate’s fastest-growing racial group since 2020.

The Louisiana v. Callais ruling restricts how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be used to draw majority-minority districts, requiring plaintiffs to show intentional discrimination rather than discriminatory results. “For the past 13 years, Supreme Court decisions have steadily weakened the Voting Rights Act, and today’s ruling destroys core protections for our democracy,” said Christine Chen, executive director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote).

The decision is expected to hit hardest in the South, where AAPI populations are growing fastest and where Section 2 has been most actively used to challenge redistricting. The AAPI population in the Southeast grew 46% between 2010 and 2020, and 64% in North Carolina, outpacing the national rate of 35%, according to a 2022 UNC-Chapel Hill study. Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas and Indiana each saw Asian population growth above 67% over the same period, as per AAPI Data.

Asian Law Caucus Executive Director Aarti Kohli said the ruling allows communities to be “unfairly split for partisan gains,” pointing to scenarios such as a Chinatown split into three districts. Currently, California has just one of its 120 state legislative districts drawn to amplify Asian American voters, and the community holds influence in six of the state’s 52 U.S. House seats.

The ruling’s reach extends beyond Congress. Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California said the decision weakens protections immigrant, low-income and limited-English-proficient communities have relied on in areas such as the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County, where district lines shape representation on city councils, school boards and county commissions.

U.S. Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.), whose parents arrived as refugees from Vietnam, called the ruling “a betrayal of the promise of equal representation.” Civil rights advocates expect a wave of litigation challenging districts drawn under the federal law and its state counterparts.