Supreme court's Voting Rights Act ruling cited misleading data from DoJ

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Fri 8 May 2026 07.00 EDT
Last modified on Fri 8 May 2026 07.01 EDT


The claims Samuel Alito, a supreme court justice, made about voter turnout in Louisiana in a landmark Voting Rights Act case were based on a misleading data analysis, a Guardian review has found.

In his opinion gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act last week, Alito said that Black voter turnout had exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five most recent presidential elections, both nationally and in Louisiana. Alito’s claim was copied almost verbatim from a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the justice department. It was a critical data point Alito used to make the argument that the kind of discrimination that once made the Voting Rights Act necessary no longer exists.

“Vast social change has occurred throughout the country and particularly in the South, where many Section 2 suits arise,” Alito wrote in a majority opinion in the case, which concerned Louisiana’s congressional map, joined by the five other conservative justices on the court. “Black voters now participate in elections at similar rates as the rest of the electorate, even turning out at higher rates than white voters in two of the five most recent Presidential elections nationwide and in Louisiana.”

But a review of turnout and racial data in Louisiana reveals that assertion relies on an unusual methodology. The justice department brief that Alito cited calculated Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana as a proportion of the total population of each racial group over the age of 18. Such an approach is not preferred by experts in calculating statewide turnout because the general over-18 population may include non-citizens, people with felony convictions and others who cannot legally vote. But it does yield Alito’s conclusion that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in Louisiana.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/08/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-misleading-data-doj

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Of course they did. Racists will do everything they can to justify their racist actions because they don't want to be called out as racist.

And some are naive to claim that they "don't have a racist bone in their body", carefully omitting their hearts and brains where the hate resides.

And regarding this -

But a review of turnout and racial data in Louisiana reveals that assertion relies on an unusual methodology. The justice department brief that Alito cited calculated Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana as a proportion of the total population of each racial group over the age of 18. Such an approach is not preferred by experts in calculating statewide turnout because the general over-18 population may include non-citizens, people with felony convictions and others who cannot legally vote.

IOW, the calculation SHOULD BE using the number of voters who DID vote out of the total population of ELIGIBLE voters over 18 versus the number of voters who DID vote out of a TOTAL population over 18. That's because the prisons are loaded with (often-over charged) black felons as well as other felons who cannot vote, along with non-citizens who still get counted in census/population estimates.

[Lovie777]

1. His mind was already made up.................

so were the other 5. Their goal was to dilute and shut down minority voters, starting the black districts first.

The fight will be long and hard to regain black voter's right for representation again but it's worth it.

Red states have won this battle, but we the people will win the war.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. He had a conclusion already determined. All he needed was manipulated data

to support it.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

4. My first thought, too...

... so conniving.

"conniving/kəˈnīviNG/Conniving describes someone who is scheming, plotting, and manipulative, typically engaging in secret, dishonest, or crafty behavior for personal gain or to harm others. It suggests a sneaky, shrewd, and devious nature, often associated with con artists, villains, or those looking to get ahead through illicit means"

[turbinetree]

2. John Roberts Lied...........he has been a racists POS since Reagan he lied when he got confirmed

along with the other 5 maga POS's...................

[GreenWave]

5. I thought Roberts was W's POS lawyer spewing venom to get the FL recount stopped.

[bluestarone]

6. You see, THIS is the scary part. These six FUCKERS can rule their way for ANY reason, and

NOTHING we can do about it. These are what i call their TEST decisions. Look out for what they really want to to us in America. It's coming, that's for sure!!

[Attilatheblond]

7. Racism didn't end, white voters just got lazy and didn't vote in same %

That's not the fault of black voters and it certainly doesn't show racism is over in the US.

RW justices are always looking for cover to justify their biases and predetermined mindset.

[republianmushroom]

8. You mean trumps DOJ supplied misleading

information to the SCOTUS. Dam, I'm shocked, shocked by it
But than this is the Roberts court so if follows. And not a damn thing will be done about it.

[yankee87]

9. GIGO

They could have cited any data, the decision was already a done deal. The only way is to increase the number of justices.

[TheRickles]

10. I'm sure the decision was pre-determined, but I'm curious what the numbers would've looked like

if the caveats mentioned by BumRush in the last paragraph had been taken into account.

[TheRickles]

11. Try reading the linked article. There are graphs and plenty of numbers. It's quite damning.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. The Guardian "ran the numbers" and their findings are in the article

Here were their accompanying plots -