Category Archives: redistricting

Spotlight on Redistricting

November 18, 2021, 6:49 amredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico’s front page today features various articles on redistricting. Warning: Only read if you need one more reason to be depressed about the state of our democratic institutions. I think it would be good for someone in the thick of… Continue reading

“Redistricting squeezes 2 Democratic rising stars in Georgia”

November 17, 2021, 6:58 pmredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Politico Georgia’s Republican-controlled legislature revealed its new congressional map on Wednesday. The new map seeks to claw back one of the two seats the party lost over the past three years to two female Democrats: Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux.… Continue reading

“How a Cure for Gerrymandering Left U.S. Politics Ailing in New Ways”

November 17, 2021, 7:12 ampolitical polarization, redistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Nick Corasaniti and Reid J. Epstein at the NY Times “Partisan gerrymandering is as old as the republic, but good-government experts thought they had hit on a solution with independent commissions, advisory groups and outside panels. Taking the map-drawing process… Continue reading

Breaking—Washington Redistricting Commission at Impasse

November 16, 2021, 11:33 amredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

On Twitter The Washington Supreme Court to take over the process. Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report notes this is the emerging pattern for this cycle. “Last night, after substantial work marked by mutual respect and dedication to the… Continue reading

Wisconsin Webinar on Redistricting 2021

November 16, 2021, 4:13 amelection law biz, redistrictingDan Tokaji

With the post-2020 redistricting cycle in full swing, the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School are co-hosting a webinar on Redistricting and Gerrymandering 2021: Taking … Continue reading

Breaking—Alabama’s New Political Maps Challenged as Racial Gerrymanders

November 15, 2021, 6:23 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

ACLU Press Release Individual voters joined with civil rights and faith groups, including the Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, to file a pair of lawsuits challenging Alabama’s newly drawn political maps for state legislative… Continue reading

Ins and Outs of Section 2 Litigation–hold on for an interesting ride

November 15, 2021, 1:55 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

Michael Li notes on Twitter “Texas is arguing that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not offer plaintiffs a private cause of action.” I suspect we are going to be seeing a lot of imaginative Section 2 arguments… Continue reading

“Americans are participating in redistricting like never before”

November 15, 2021, 9:17 amcitizen commissions, redistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Hill This is true to my experience here in Pennsylvania as a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council for the congressional redistricting process.

“How two Ohio GOP lawmakers hijacked Ohio’s new redistricting process”

November 13, 2021, 12:49 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Cleveland.com: Under the Ohio Constitution, all seven members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission are supposed to be on equal footing.But in reality, only two commissioners, who have a direct stake in what new state legislative maps look like, had… Continue reading

Supreme Court of Virginia Unanimously Tells Va Republicans to Pick Additional, More Neutral Redistricting Masters After State Commission Failed to Reach Agreement to Draw Maps

November 12, 2021, 9:54 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Democrats had proposed Cain, Grofman, or Persily and Republicans had proposed three Republican political operatives. The justices are supposed to pick one from each list for two masters to draw districts together. The state supreme court told Va. Republicans to … Continue reading

“The Consequences of Redistricting Without a Safety Net”

November 11, 2021, 4:23 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Barajas for the Texas Observer: For decades, the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 sought to protect minority voters by forcing Texas and other states with a history of race-based voter suppression to clear changes to election laws,… Continue reading

“Gerrymandering surges as states redraw maps for House seats”

November 11, 2021, 7:17 amredistrictingRick Hasen

AP: North Carolina’s plan drew instant criticism for its aggressive approach, but it’s hardly alone. Experts and lawmakers tracking the once-a-decade redistricting process see a cycle of supercharged gerrymandering. With fewer legal restraints and amped up political stakes, both… Continue reading

“Oregon lawmakers don’t have to follow redistricting law, can draw maps to favor individuals, Democratic lawmakers claim”

November 9, 2021, 7:21 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Oregon Live: Oregon lawmakers do not have to follow a state law that prohibits drawing political maps to benefit a specific individual because as legislators they have authority to override that statute, according to a new court filing by lawyers… Continue reading

“How Michigan Republicans are trying to sway state’s independent redistricting process”

November 4, 2021, 8:27 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

NBC News: Michigan Republicans, blocked by voters from being directly involved in redrawing the state’s voting maps, launched a coordinated effort to influence the independent commission tasked with the job, an action documented in a series of recordings obtained… Continue reading