Category Archives: redistricting

New volume of the Harvard Law & Policy Review is out

July 15, 2019, 11:00 amcampaign finance, ethics investigations, political equality, political parties, redistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

Chock full of election-law goodies. Among other pieces: Elizabeth Warren, Foreword (on corruption and faith in government)Jeffrey Clements, “But It Will Happen”: A Constitutional Amendment to Secure Political Equality in Election Spending and RepresentationViki Harrison,… Continue reading

“What the French Revolution teaches us about the dangers of gerrymandering”

July 14, 2019, 11:07 ampolitical parties, political polarization, redistrictingJustin Levitt

Rebecca Spang with a Bastille Day connection to unabashed partisan redistricting.

Citizenship data and the redistricting fight

July 14, 2019, 11:06 amcensus litigation, redistrictingJustin Levitt

The Nation picks up the redistricting thread.

“If the Supreme Court Won’t Prevent Gerrymandering, Who Will?”

July 14, 2019, 11:05 amredistrictingJustin Levitt

Sam Wang in the NYT looks to the states.

Citizenship and the Census: Behind the Bluster

July 13, 2019, 12:12 pmcensus litigation, redistrictingJustin Levitt

Hansi Lo Wang points to a July 3 census filing under the Paperwork Reduction Act (the weeds matter, people) in which the Department of Commerce, “having carefully considered the matter, has determined that there is not sufficient time to develop… Continue reading

Citizenship and the Census: pivot to the complete count

July 13, 2019, 12:12 pmcensus litigation, redistrictingJustin Levitt

With the legal fight over the content of the 2020 enumeration questionnaire finally settled, commentators and advocates are turning to the fight over getting the count right. Here’s one example from Josh Geltzer and Mary McCord in the WaPo, and… Continue reading

Citizenship and the Census: pivot to redistricting

July 13, 2019, 12:11 pmcensus litigation, redistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

And here’s the other turn Rick’s been forecasting: a HuffPost piece discussing the potential to use data culled for the President’s Executive Order in the redistricting process. And a WaPo dive on the potential consequences.

Citizenship and the Census: representation is not the same as voting

July 13, 2019, 12:09 pmcensus litigation, redistricting, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

As Michael Li explains, on All Things Considered.

Hofeller’s files in North Carolina

July 13, 2019, 12:09 pmchicanery, political parties, redistrictingJustin Levitt

The files from Tom Hofeller that Rick keeps mentioning in the context of the census case were given to advocates in North Carolina primarily for use in a redistricting case in state court (i.e., not affected by the SCOTUS ruling… Continue reading

“Annexed Boise Neighborhood Left Out of Voting Rolls For Almost Five Years”

July 13, 2019, 12:03 pmredistricting, votingJustin Levitt

Fixed now, but a helpful reminder that cities are organic, not static … and that it helps to let election offices know as they grow or shrink.

New Yorker on the Hofeller Files and More: “A Father, A Daughter, and the Attempt to Change the Census”

July 12, 2019, 3:34 pmcensus litigation, chicanery, redistrictingRick Hasen

Fascinating read.

If Trump’s Executive Order Ends Up Creating Better Citizenship Data, Could It Be Used by States to Draw CONGRESSIONAL Districts with Equal Numbers of Voter Eligible Persons (and Not Total Population)? Would It Allow for Use in State and Local Districts?

July 12, 2019, 8:29 amredistrictingRick Hasen

In earlier posts, and in a Slate piece, I explained that both the original reason for trying to include the citizenship question on the census and Trump’s executive order issued yesterday was to allow states to try to… Continue reading