I think I found the ruling. I'm not sure what the article says about the ruling, but the OP certainly mischaracterizes it. IMO the reality is much worse
Images ahead - the pdf text is not selectable
Source [
DOJ | Letter from Acting Assistant Attourney General Loretta King]
Basically they're saying that white people are racist, and won't vote for black candidates. If you include the party of the candidate, though, white people will vote for the black candidate without knowing it because they just choose straight party ticket. Since black people are the majority of the voting-age population (even though they're ususally a minority of the electorate), it's obviously unfair if the candidate they like (but don't vote for in sufficient numbers) loses. Therefore, removing party labels will cause white people to actually look at the candidates and, since white people are racist, cause the black candidates to lose, which violates the Voting Rights Act. The reason it violates the VRA is that making white people aware of who they are voting for has the effect "of denying or abriging the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group"
Absolutely ridiculous