Category Archives: redistricting

“New maps spark debate over majority-minority districts”

November 25, 2021, 12:46 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

AP: For decades, the widely accepted strategy was to group together Black voters so they comprised a majority in a statehouse or congressional district. That principle was enshrined in the federal Voting Rights Act, which requires the creation of… Continue reading

“G.O.P. Cements Hold on Legislatures in Battleground States”

November 25, 2021, 12:37 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: Republicans are locking in newly gerrymandered maps for the legislatures in four battleground states that are set to secure the party’s control in the statehouse chambers over the next decade, fortifying the G.O.P. against even the most sweeping potential… Continue reading

Josh Douglas: “Why Gerrymandering Needs to Land in State Courts”

November 24, 2021, 12:37 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Josh Douglas Politico oped: It’s already become clear that increasingly partisan state legislatures can’t be trusted to draw fair maps, and the U.S. Supreme Court — given a chance to intervene — made things worse by washing its hands… Continue reading

“Competitive House districts are getting wiped off the map”

November 23, 2021, 7:23 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo: From Texas to Oregon, competitive congressional districts are disappearing. As states finalize new borders ahead of the 2022 midterms, state legislatures are approving maps they hope will advantage one party in the coming struggle to control the… Continue reading

“In historic vote, O.C. supervisors approve majority-Latino district for five-member board”

November 23, 2021, 7:15 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

LAT: In a historic vote, the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Monday created a majority-Latino district for the first time while also giving power to Asian voters.The lines for the supervisors’ districts, redone once a decade after the national… Continue reading

Virginia Redistricting Tools from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project

November 22, 2021, 7:51 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Sam Wang: The Special Masters have a variety of options. One is to stay close to the current maps, making adjustments to deal with population shifts and to ensure compliance with the standards laid out by the Court in… Continue reading

“Ohio Republicans’ redistricting map dilutes Black voters’ power in Congress, critics say”

November 22, 2021, 6:50 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“As Gerrymanders Get Worse, Legal Options to Overturn Them Dwindle”

November 21, 2021, 11:17 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Wines for the NYT: Voting-rights advocates are in a North Carolina state court in Raleigh this month, arguing in three lawsuits that Republican gerrymanders of the State Legislature and the state’s 14 seats in the House of… Continue reading

“Latino, Asian American, LGBTQ activists: They want to shape California’s congressional maps”

November 21, 2021, 11:05 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

LAT: Activists are urging the creation of a congressional district that links LGBTQ populations in Long Beach and coastal northern Orange County. Civil-rights groups say a plan to split up a Los Angeles-area district — the most heavily Latino in … Continue reading

Breaking–Sean Trende and Bernard Grofman to draw Virginia Maps

November 19, 2021, 10:56 amredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Dave Wasserman on Twitter reports that the Virginia Supreme Court has unanimously appointed Sean Trende and Bernard Groffman as special masters for the court-supervised redistricting process.

“Ohio Republicans’ redistricting map dilutes Black voters’ power in Congress, critics say”

November 19, 2021, 4:54 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActTabatha Abu El-Haj

Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post Legal challenge, including on state constitutional grounds, expected if Governor Mike DeWine signs the new map into law. Either way, “the map will only be in effect for four years, since fewer than one-third of legislative… Continue reading

“Wisconsin governor vetoes redistricting maps, calls them ‘gerrymandering 2.0′”

November 18, 2021, 3:53 pmredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Breaking News from The Hill Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor, Tony Evers, has vetoed the maps Wisconsin’s Republican Legislature sent him–as promised last week. “Republicans do not have enough support in the legislature to overturn the veto, sending the battle over the… Continue reading

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