Supreme Court narrows Section 2 in Brnovich, making vote-dilution claims harder to prove

The Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee on July 1, 2021, upholding two Arizona voting restrictions under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: a rule that discards ballots cast in the wrong precinct and a ban on third-party ballot collection. Justice Samuel Alito writes for the majority, establishing five new "guideposts" for evaluating Section 2 claims that give states more latitude to restrict voting access. Alito rules that minor disparate impact on minority voters does not automatically constitute a violation. The ruling makes Section 2 litigation significantly harder for plaintiffs and draws a sharp dissent from Justice Elena Kagan, who argues the Court has rewritten the statute.