Voting Rights Act survives at US Supreme Court but more challenges loom

FILE PHOTO: Voters are seen entering a polling station inside of the Floyd Middle Magnet School for the presidential primary election during Super Tuesday in Montgomery, Alabama , U.S., March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court has granted an unexpected reprieve to a landmark law barring racial discrimination in voting after rolling back its protections over the past decade, but more challenges to the Voting Rights Act seem certain based on actions by Republican legislators in numerous states.

Conservative Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court's three liberals in a 5-4 ruling on Thursday that declared that a Republican-drawn electoral map in Alabama weakened the clout of Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The court's conservatives in two prior rulings since 2013 had rolled back protections under that 1965 law.