The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Wednesday in a dispute over the composition of Louisiana electoral districts in a case that could imperil a key section of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 federal law enacted by Congress to prevent racial discrimination in voting.

A group of Black voters has appealed a lower court’s finding that a voting map that added a second Black-majority congressional district in Louisiana was guided too much by racial considerations in violation of the constitutional promise of equal protection under the law.

Louisiana, where Black people make up roughly a third of the population, has six U.S. House of Representatives districts. Black voters tend to support Democratic candidates.

The arguments were ongoing.

The Supreme Court has a 6-3 con

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