In a rural Georgia county where Black voters are outnumbered by whites 2 to 1 at the polls despite being the majority population, an 11th Circuit dug into the thorny question Wednesday of whether discrimination is the only explanation.
Read moreA federal court in Michigan dismissed claims brought by the state’s Republican Party and 15 individuals challenging the constitutionality of eligibility restrictions for members of Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Individuals who sought or held public office in the past six years cannot serve on the commission.
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The U.S. Census Bureau needs more time to wrap up the once-a-decade count because of the coronavirus, opening the possibility of delays in drawing new legislative districts that could help determine what political party is in power, what laws pass or fail and whether communities of color get a voice in their states.
Read moreA constitutional challenge to eligibility criteria for individuals who wish to serve on Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission was rejected by the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday when a panel affirmed a decision by a federal judge.
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Virginia’s hope for nonpartisanship in time for next year’s constitutionally mandated redistricting survived a state House committee vote Monday evening.
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Hopes for nonpartisan redistricting in Virginia got new life Friday morning even after Democratic leaders in the House of Delegates rolled back their once strong support.
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Wisconsin’s Democratic governor on Monday fulfilled his promise to create a nonpartisan board to draw new legislative maps following the 2020 census, bringing focus back to an issue that helped define partisan politics in the state and nationwide over the last decade.
Read moreAn attorney for Mississippi on Wednesday told the Fifth Circuit that the crux of a voter redistricting case comes down to whether black voters in a given district have a lesser chance of electing the candidates of their choice than the nonblack minority in the district.
Read moreThe Fifth Circuit ruled against four white voters who sued Dallas County, claiming its 2011 redistricting plan for electing county commissioners was racially discriminatory because it provided only one “Anglo-majority district.” The court found the plaintiffs could not prove the plan amounted to “racial gerrymandering.”
Read moreLos Angeles County will be required to appoint a committee to redraw its voting district lines after a battle with California over the implementation of 2016 legislation that pushed a new method of determining the electoral boundaries.
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A three-judge panel in North Carolina ruled Monday that the state’s new congressional map can be used in the 2020 election, rejecting a challenge to the latest version drawn by Republican state lawmakers last month.
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The re-election victory by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards over the weekend has assured Democrats of an all-important place at the table when political maps are redrawn after the 2020 census for elections to Congress and the state Legislature.
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In a trial to determine whether or not Alabama racially gerrymandered some of its congressional districts, U.S. Congressman Bradley Byrne testified the four congressional maps proposed by the 10 black voters suing the state would “destroy” the ability of representatives to effectively serve their constituents.
Read moreA three-judge-panel in North Carolina’s capital Monday blocked the state’s Republican-drawn congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections.
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The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to reduce the number of operating divisions in the Eastern District of Arkansas from five to three in a rare realignment of judicial lines, which was spurred by the 2017 closure of the only two federal courthouses in the two axed divisions.
Read moreThe Second Circuit advanced a lawsuit Tuesday that challenges how Connecticut counts prisoners when it draws up legislative districts.
Read moreThe Fifth Circuit affirmed that Mississippi gerrymandered its State Senate District 22 to deny black citizens equal rights, in violation of the Voting Rights Act, and noted that the state “scarcely entered any evidence to the contrary.”
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A panel of judges in North Carolina Tuesday struck down voting maps created by the Republican-controlled Legislature, ruling that they are unconstitutional and must be redrawn before the 2020 elections.
Read moreThe Fifth Circuit upheld the boundary lines of Senate District 22, which were redrawn after a district court found a violation of the Voting Rights Act. The voting district, as it was previously drawn, diluted African American “voting strength.” The redrawn map will be used in the state’s primary election Tuesday, August 6.
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