Voting districts designed to increase the chances of electing minority candidates, a fixture in the South, could be dismantled if the Supreme Court invalidates a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges Section 5 of the 1965 landmark law. The section bars all or part of 16 states, including Louisiana, from making any changes to their election procedures without first proving the changes wouldn’t discriminate against minority voters. A ruling is expected in a few months.

If the court rules Section 5 is no longer necessary, states and counties and local governments subject to the provision would not have to submit new election maps to the Justice Department for review.

Civil rights advocates say that would open the door for jurisdictions like many in the South — where blacks tend to vote for black candidates and whites tend to vote for white candidates — to redraw districts in a way that makes it harder for minorities to get elected.

“There is no doubt in my mind that if there is no Section 5, the eight black (state) Senate districts in Alabama would disappear in the very near future,” said Democratic state Sen. Hank Sanders, who holds one of those eight seats.

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Most state legislatures would push more minority voters into one district, said David Bositis, a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that focuses on issues affecting blacks.

“White voters in most of the Southern states, not all… are Republicans and so the whiter the district, the more likely it’s going to be a Republican district,’’ Bositis said. “They’re going to want to pack black voters into as few districts as possible.’’

Read more at the Shreveport Times.