Category Archives: redistricting

“Texas Democrats to return home for second special session, ABC13 sources confirm”

August 12, 2025, 3:09 pmchicanery, redistrictingRick Hasen

ABC13: ABC13 has confirmed with multiple sources that House Democrats will return to Texas. Eyewitness News has not confirmed the date, but we do know that Democrats believe they’ve accomplished their mission by killing the first special session and… Continue reading

Good Government Group Common Cause Will Bless Time-Limited Mid-Decade Re-redistricting, with Conditions

August 12, 2025, 12:13 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Announcement via email: Common Cause today reaffirmed its commitment to fair, people-powered democracy, making clear that independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering. However, as political leaders in states like Texas are imposing mid-decade partisan maps to distort the… Continue reading

“Texas Republicans dare Democrats to stay out of state another month”

August 12, 2025, 10:00 amchicanery, redistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo: Texas Republicans said Tuesday that they would kick off a second special legislative session Friday to redraw the state’s congressional maps in favor of the GOP, putting pressure on absent Democrats to quickly return to the state or commit… Continue reading

“Why a gerrymandering critic wants to toss out California’s maps”

August 12, 2025, 7:38 amredistrictingRick Hasen

California Playbook: Sara Sadhwani is proud of her work on California’s independent redistricting commission, but now she wants voters to tear up the maps she and her colleagues spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours crafting. The Pomona political science professor… Continue reading

“Republican Party of Texas sets stage to censure members who stepped out of line in likely bid to block them from primary ballot”

August 11, 2025, 1:08 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: The executive committee of the Republican Party of Texas was in Austin on Saturday to finalize its first-ever legislative review, outlining a list of censurable offenses that some within the Texas GOP want to use to block certain… Continue reading

“How Alabama’s historic congressional map still faces uncertainty amid redistricting battles”

August 11, 2025, 8:26 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Al.com: In this sweltering political August, redistricting has become the hot fight of the moment. It’s driving Texas Democrats to flee their state, hunkering down in Illinois while Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to have lawmakers removed from office.… Continue reading

“How did we get all this gerrymandering? A short history of the Republican redistricting scheme”

August 10, 2025, 11:21 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Dave Daley in The Guardian.

“Inside Democrats’ risky gambit to ‘fight fire with fire’ over election maps”

August 10, 2025, 11:19 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo deep dive: Their exodus, coordinated with top Democrats outside Texas, is the latest flash point in a rapidly spreading fight over election maps — embodying Democrats’ newly combative posture on redistricting. After Texas Republicans initiated an unusual mid-decade… Continue reading

Alabama Dodges Bail-in

August 8, 2025, 9:28 amcourt decisions, redistricting, Voting Rights ActTravis Crum

Yesterday, the three-judge district court in the Alabama congressional redistricting litigation declined to bail-in the State to the VRA’s preclearance regime. You can find the district court’s decision here. Recall that the district court had previously found that Alabama’s… Continue reading

I Was on the Bloomberg Law Podcast with June Grasso: “The Voting Rights Act Is in Jeopardy”

August 8, 2025, 9:04 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Listen here.

The Media’s Unfortunate Greater Interest in the Texas Redistricting Car Wreck than the Supreme Court’s Slow Poisoning of the Voting Rights Act

August 7, 2025, 7:44 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I’ve written about two big election stories this week, the newly ignited redistricting wars starting in Texas and the Supreme Court’s strong signal that it could kill off the Voting Rights Act Section 2 by next June. Judged by… Continue reading

Watch Video of My Appearance on the PBS News Hour Talking about the New Redistricting Wars and the Implications for the Voting Rights Act

August 6, 2025, 4:53 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can watch at this link: Or read the transcript.

My New One at MSNBC Opinion: “Trump started a redistricting war. Only Congress can stop it.”

August 5, 2025, 10:33 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece for MSNBC Opinion. It begins: A sudden war over redistricting has broken out in Texas and looks to spread across the country, with California, New York and elsewhere considering tit-for-tat Democratic partisan gerrymanders to… Continue reading

My New One at Slate on the Supreme Court Potentially Killing the Remaining Pillar of the Voting Rights Act: “The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term”

August 4, 2025, 7:27 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Reading the tea leaves from cryptic Supreme Court orders can be perilous business because the justices are not bound by the questions they ask at oral argument, the offhand comments they… Continue reading

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