April 22 (Bloomberg) —  The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to affirmative action, upholding a voter-approved ban on racial preferences in admissions at Michigan's state-run universities in a decision that provides a blueprint for other states wishing to enact similar bars.

The justices, voting 6-2, today said racial preferences were a legitimate subject to be put before the state's voters. A federal appeals court had said Michigan unconstitutionally stripped racial minorities of their rights.

"Democracy does not presume that some subjects are either too divisive or too profound for public debate," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the court's lead opinion.