Justice Kagan Says Supreme Court Voting and Election Rulings Have Deepened Polarization

Justice Elena Kagan said Tuesday that Supreme Court rulings on voting and elections by her conservative colleagues have made the country more politically polarized and less democratic. Speaking to students and professors at Catholic University's law school in Washington, D.C., two weeks before midterm elections for control of Congress, she said the court has blinded itself to the harmful effects of its decisions. She criticized rulings that weakened the Voting Rights Act and campaign finance regulations and opened the door to more partisan gerrymandering, decisions from which she dissented. Kagan said both parties are in a race to the bottom on gerrymanders. The court's majority ruled in 2019 that federal courts cannot step into partisan districting disputes.

Right-leaning outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had. The alternative source, AP, carries the wire report on Kagan's remarks, and HuffPost runs the AP report in fuller form. The New York Times headline and summary stress that the rulings on voting rights, gerrymandering and campaign finance deepened divides. The outlets largely agree on the facts.