TribCast: The past and future of the Voting Rights Act in Texas

By Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune
May 5, 2026

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court took a hammer to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in electoral maps, among other things. Under this new ruling, voters of color who can prove that their voting power is being unfairly diluted must prove that elected officials intended to discriminate against them to get the map changed.

The ruling signals a seismic shift in voting rights litigation, and Texas promises to be at the center of it all. To discuss the implications of this historic ruling, TribCast is joined by Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck, Texas Tribune D.C. correspondent Gabby Birenbaum and Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Watch the video above or subscribe to the TribCast on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS. New episodes every Tuesday.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.