Category Archives: redistricting

Supreme Court Asks for US Government’s Views on North Dakota Racial Gerrymandering/Voting Rights Act Case

June 10, 2024, 6:52 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Order list and jurisdictional statement. Surprise! A brief from Alabama for 13 states would go much further in attempting to dismantle the Voting Rights Act as applied to redistricting. The request to hear from the Solicitor General means this… Continue reading

“Supreme Court sends dispute over Arkansas’ GOP-drawn congressional map back to lower court”

June 3, 2024, 6:57 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NBC News: The Supreme Court on Monday told a lower court to take a fresh look at claims alleging that Republican-drawn congressional districts in Arkansas sought to minimize the influence of Black voters. The justices threw out a May 2023… Continue reading

“This Supreme Court ruling is a ‘get-out-of-jail’ card for racial discrimination”

May 31, 2024, 7:13 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Michael Li oped: The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority made it much easier last week to attack the political power of the nation’s growing communities of color. The high court’s attacking voting rights isn’t new. But the latest blow, in … Continue reading

“Commentary: ‘Good faith’? Not in the SC Legislature and not on the US Supreme Court”

May 31, 2024, 6:50 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Vernon Burton and Armand Derfner: Of all the defects in last week’s decision upholding South Carolina’s gerrymandered 1st Congressional District, none is more depressing than the U.S. Supreme Court’s debasement of the term “good faith.” As The Post and Courier… Continue reading

The long shadow of the Elections Clause

May 29, 2024, 6:01 amredistricting, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

Rucho v. Common Cause and Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP both involved congressional redistricting. Each took place, ostensibly, under Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution, the Elections Clause. From Rucho, “Congress has regularly… Continue reading

Breaking and Analysis: Justice Alito for Republican Justices, over the Dissent of Democratic Justices, Rewrites Racial Gerrymandering Standards to Help White Republican States

May 23, 2024, 7:11 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

[This post has been edited and updated.] In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling holding that South Carolina’s congressional map was a racial gerrymandering. Justice Thomas concurred, and Justice Kagan,… Continue reading

“Minnesota ends prison gerrymandering”

May 20, 2024, 1:46 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Prison Gerrymandering Project: On Friday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed HF 4772 — an omnibus elections policy bill — into law, officially ending prison gerrymandering in the state. With this action, Minnesota joins the rapidly growing list of states that … Continue reading

Supreme Court briefing complete on appeal of North Dakota redistricting case

May 7, 2024, 6:41 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Walen v. Burgum was decided before a three-judge panel and is on appeal to the Supreme Court. It involves the interaction of the Equal Protection Clause and racial gerrymandering with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in the drawing… Continue reading

“The Roadmap for Fair Reports in 2030: A Summary of the 2023 National Citizen Redistricting Commissioners Conference”

May 2, 2024, 6:08 amredistrictingRick Hasen

New report.

Breaking: Three Judge Court, Breaking Along Party Lines, Says Louisiana Impermissibly Created a Second Black Congressional District, Orders Hearing on Remedy

April 30, 2024, 3:38 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Faced with a likely successful lawsuit by minority plaintiffs under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Louisiana legislature drew a second black majority congressional district. After the districts were drawn, those who did not like Louisiana having a… Continue reading

“Fierce Races Loom With Wisconsin’s New Political Maps”

April 6, 2024, 2:26 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: The state’s residents have long been a close mix of Democrats and Republicans, which makes Wisconsin a crucial swing state in presidential elections and means statewide races are often fiercely contested. The reshaping of the maps is expected to… Continue reading

“Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Revive Washington State Voting Map Said to Hurt Hispanics”

April 2, 2024, 1:45 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

NYT: The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to reinstate a voting map for the Washington State Legislature that a federal judge had found discriminated against Hispanic voters. As is the court’s custom when it acts on emergency applications, its brief… Continue reading

“The fight to flip the House just got harder for Dems. And they have New York to blame.”

March 29, 2024, 10:07 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Zach Montellaro for Politico: Republicans eked out a narrow win in the 2024 redistricting wars, gaining a single seat before the general election. While there’s an outside chance of another last-minute redistricting before November, after two significant court rulings this… Continue reading

New OMB race/ethnicity categories

March 28, 2024, 10:38 pmredistricting, Voting Rights Actcensus, raceJustin Levitt

Justin here. This is a really big deal: the federal government’s got new standards for collecting data on race and ethnicity. The Office of Management and Budget has a sneak preview today of tomorrow’s update of “Statistical Policy Directive No.… Continue reading