From the New York Times, it's the headlines.

I'm Tracy Mumford.

Today's Thursday, April 30th.

Here's what we're covering.

The consequence of this decision is as clear as it is dangerous.

Fewer protections for voters.

More power for politicians to draw maps that silenced them, particularly historically disenfranchised voters.

In Washington and across the U.S., Democrats are blasting the Supreme Court's ruling on the

Voting Rights Act, calling it a betrayal of the civil rights movement.

At the same time, Republicans are calling it a major win for the Constitution

and hailing the decision, which could open the door for more red states

to red draw their election maps to benefit the GOP.

They determined that the last map that was drawn for Louisiana was done unconstitutionally,

and we've been saying that consistently from the beginning.

That was the obvious result.

In its ruling yesterday, the court's conservative majority

threw out a Louisiana voting map,

saying that lawmakers there illegally used race as a consideration

when drawing a majority black congressional district.

Under the Voting Rights Act, states across the

country have long done what Louisiana did. They created districts where non-white voters are the

majority to protect those voters' ability to elect candidates of their choice. It was seen as a crucial way to try

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