The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has effectively neutralized a hugely significant piece of voting rights legislation designed to ensure African-American representation in Congress, and the resulting consequences could be wide-reaching and election-changing. In a divided 6-3 decision, the top court ruled Wednesday that a congressional map in Louisiana was unconstitutional because the state gave too much consideration to race when drawing up its voting districts. The justices ruled that a "minority-majority" district in that state, where most voters are Black, violated the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause because it unfairly sorts citizens based on race. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority in this case, said that while race-based election rules may have been appropriate in the past, there has been "vast social change," especially in the South, and therefore such considerations are not as necessary now. U.S.…