Tag Archives: redistricting

Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder It’s back to Atlanta and back to the drawing board for Georgia legislators, who are set to gavel in for a special session Wednesday after a federal judge ruled the redistricting maps they produced in 2021 did not protect the rights of Black voters. Lawmakers will …

Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline Two Black northeastern North Carolina residents are suing to invalidate the state Senate redistricting plan approved last month. The federal lawsuit filed Monday claims that the legislature ignored the history of racially polarized voting in northeastern North Carolina, federal law, and a state Supreme Court opinion …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix As fitting for a case of this magnitude, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal will put on a rare show during oral arguments in voting-rights groups’ challenge to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional districting map — specifically, its elimination of a Black-opportunity district in North Florida. All …

Jemma Stephenson, Alabama Reflector The United States Supreme Court Tuesday denied Alabama’s request to stay a lower court decision directing a special master to draw new state congressional maps to remedy Voting Rights Act violations. The nation’s high court dismissed the request in two one-sentence orders Tuesday morning. No opinions …

Holly McCall, Tennessee Lookout A coalition of civil rights and civic organizations has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Tennessee’s 2022 redistricting plan violates the 14th and 15th amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the rights of Black voters. Filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on …

by Rob Schofield, Ohio Capital Journal The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear a North Carolina redistricting case that one prominent constitutional scholar described to the New York Times as “an 800-pound gorilla brooding in the background of election law cases working their way up from state courts.” In Moore …

by Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix May 27, 2022 A Florida appellate court ruled Friday that a trial judge abused his authority in ordering state government to retain a Black-access congressional district in North Florida before holding a full trial on whether the state’s Fair District amendment required doing so. The …

A Florida judge on Wednesday ruled that a congressional map approved by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and drawn by his staff is unconstitutional because it breaks up a district where Black voters can choose their representatives. “I am finding that the enacted map is unconstitutional under the Fair District Amendment …

On Friday, several voting rights groups sued Florida over the state’s new congressional maps, which were drawn by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature earlier this week. DeSantis signed the measure into law on Friday. The League of Women Voters of Florida joined Black Voters …

A divided North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the state’s new redistricting maps for congressional and General Assembly seats Friday. By a 4-3 decision – with the justices who are registered Democrats making up the majority – the state’s highest court directed the GOP-controlled legislature to redraw the plans by …

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is warning states not to attempt to weaken voting power among minority communities ahead of redistricting. The guidance comes as states begin to draw congressional and state legislative districts. “Discriminatory redistricting schemes or election practices threaten that fundamental right and are illegal,” Attorney General Merrick …