Supreme Court Takedown of American Democracy Complete 2026

In 1943, historian Henry Steele Commager delivered a stern warning about the United States Supreme Court, asserting that the court had never been a friend to democracy and never would be.

For anyone committed to majority rule, he argued, judicial review is wrong in theory and dangerous in practice. That danger was on full display on 29 April 2026, when the Supreme Court eviscerated Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a landmark law that prohibits voting practices discriminating on the basis of race, color, or language minority group membership.

The Voting Rights Act decision is only the latest in a string of rulings where the conservative-dominated court has waged war on constitutional democracy. These decisions have opened the floodgates to corrupting money in politics, removed federal oversight of racially biased district maps, and greenlit partisan gerrymandering. To understand the full scope of the damage, we must recall the key cases that undermined the pillars of U.S. democracy.

The Citizens United Decision: Money as Speech

In 2010, the Supreme Court delivered a truly significant blow in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case arose when a conservative nonprofit challenged campaign finance rules that stopped it from airing a film criticizing Hillary Clinton. The court used the case to deliver the death knell to almost all campaign finance restrictions.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court struck down century-old prohibitions on corporate independent spending. The majority held that under the First Amendment, corporate funding of independent political broadcasts cannot be limited, arguing that political speech is indispensable to democracy even when it comes from a corporation. This decision unleashed a flood of dark money into elections, drowning out the voices of ordinary citizens.

Gutting the Voting Rights Act: A Historical Blow

The 2026 ruling on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is arguably the most devastating. As the Department of Justice explains, Section 2 prohibits voting practices that result in discrimination based on race, color, or language minority status. By eviscerating this provision, the court effectively removed the primary legal tool for combating racial discrimination in voting.

This decision follows a pattern. In 2013, the court struck down the coverage formula for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required states with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before changing voting laws. Since then, states have passed a wave of restrictive voting laws, including strict voter ID requirements and purges of voter rolls.

Key Supreme Court Decisions That Undermined Democracy

The Consequences for American Democracy

The cumulative effect of these rulings is a democracy under siege. Money now speaks louder than voters, districts are drawn to entrench partisan power, and racial minorities face new barriers at the ballot box. As Commager observed, the only reliable way to preserve democracy is to act democratically—by winning at the ballot box and prevailing in the legislative process.

This lesson should inspire a massive turnout in the November election and a mass movement to pressure Congress to take steps to protect democratic institutions. Without legislative action, the court's conservative majority will continue to dismantle the safeguards that have protected voting rights for decades.

What Can Be Done?

• Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the preclearance formula struck down in 2013.
• Enact the For the People Act to set national standards for voting access and limit dark money.
• Support state-level ballot initiatives that expand early voting, mail-in voting, and automatic voter registration.
• Advocate for Supreme Court term limits or an enforceable code of ethics to reduce partisan influence.

FAQ: The Supreme Court and Voting Rights

Q: What did the 2026 Supreme Court ruling actually do to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act?
A: The ruling severely weakened Section 2 by making it much harder for plaintiffs to prove that a voting law discriminates on the basis of race. It raised the burden of proof and limited the types of evidence that can be used, effectively gutting the law's ability to protect minority voters.

Q: How does Citizens United still affect elections today?
A: Citizens United allowed corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals to spend unlimited amounts of money on independent political ads. This has led to the rise of Super PACs and dark money groups that can influence elections without disclosing their donors, giving the wealthy outsized influence over policy.

Q: Can Congress override these Supreme Court decisions?
A: Congress cannot directly overturn a constitutional ruling, but it can pass new laws to address the issues. For example, Congress can pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore preclearance, or the For the People Act to set national voting standards. However, any new law must survive judicial review by the same court.

Q: What is partisan gerrymandering and why is it a problem?
A: Partisan gerrymandering is the practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to give one political party an unfair advantage. In the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts cannot hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering, leaving it to state courts and legislatures—which are often controlled by the party drawing the maps.