Push for Redistricting Reform Still Alive in Virginia
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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redistricting
Wisconsin Governor Creates Nonpartisan Redistricting Panel
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 moreFifth Circuit Hears Mississippi Redistricting Case
An 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 moreGerrymandering Suit
The 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 moreCalifornia Appeals Court Upholds Election District Committee Law
Los 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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Panel Approves North Carolina US House Map for 2020
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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Democrats’ Southern Victories Will Affect Redistricting
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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Congressman Testifies in Alabama Gerrymandering Trial
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 moreNorth Carolina Judges Block Congressional Map Ahead of 2020 Elections
A 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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House Approves Realignment of Judicial Districts in Arkansas
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 morePrison Gerrymandering Suit Can Advance in Connecticut
The Second Circuit advanced a lawsuit Tuesday that challenges how Connecticut counts prisoners when it draws up legislative districts.
Read moreGerrymandering
The 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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Judges Find North Carolina GOP Gerrymandered Voting Maps
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 moreMississippi Voting Boundaries
The 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.
Read moreLengthy North Carolina Gerrymandering Trial Wraps Up
Friday’s windup of a lengthy partisan gerrymandering trial in North Carolina leaves the future of legislative district lines in limbo following two weeks of conflicting testimony.
Read moreJudges Scrap Republicans’ Expert in NC Gerrymandering Trial
Flaws in an expert’s math found during North Carolina’s gerrymandering trial Thursday prompted a three-judge-panel in Raleigh to scrap analysis a witness for Republican lawmakers presented.
Read moreRepublican Lawmakers Challenge Claims of Bias in NC Gerrymandering Case
Witnesses for North Carolina GOP lawmakers on Wednesday said democracy advocates’ experts misused numbers during testimony in the case to determine if Republicans violated the state’s constitution by unfairly gerrymandering state political districts in their party’s favor.
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GOP’s Expert Calls Rival Data Flawed in North Carolina Gerrymander Trial
An expert for Republican legislators accused of unfairly dividing North Carolina House and Senate voting districts to secure a GOP majority blamed opposing witnesses for bias in map simulations during proceedings Tuesday.
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