Category Archives: redistricting

Some recent law student scholarship on election law

March 26, 2022, 6:12 amabsentee ballots, campaign finance, redistrictingDerek Muller

This weekend, I’ll blog about some recent election law scholarship. I thought I’d start by highlighting a few student notes that caught my eye in recent weeks: Kyle Apple (Iowa), Gerrymandering the Presidency: Why Federal District Popular Voting Presents a … Continue reading

Election litigation update for week ending March 25, 2022

March 25, 2022, 2:21 pmelection administration, Elections Clause, redistrictingDerek Muller

Filing a complaint or winning a judgment are actions good enough to earn the headlines, but there’s plenty of election litigation ongoing throughout the United States at various stages. A taste of a few things that happened over the past… Continue reading

“Federal judges mull trimming Ohio early voting among other options to address redistricting delays”

March 25, 2022, 2:21 pmredistrictingDerek Muller

Out of the frying pan, from Cleveland.com: A federal court is considering whether to order Ohio to trim its early voting period for the May 3 primary election to buy more time for the state’s stalled redistricting efforts.During a… Continue reading

“Judge throws out Maryland congressional map over ‘extreme’ gerrymandering”

March 25, 2022, 10:10 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Meagan Flynn at the Washington Post: Maryland judge has thrown out the state’s congressional map, calling it an “extreme partisan gerrymander” in what is a victory for Republicans who said Democrats in the state General Assembly sought to silence… Continue reading

“Michigan Supreme Court tosses partisan fairness lawsuit challenging state House map”

March 25, 2022, 10:10 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Detroit Free Press: The Michigan Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Friday alleging that the state House map drawn by the redistricting commission is unfair to Democrats. In a 5-2 ruling, the court upheld the new state House districts. In… Continue reading

“Ohio’s anti-gerrymandering coalition splits after voting-rights groups delay congressional map challenge”

March 25, 2022, 6:40 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Cleveland.com: The backlash within Ohio’s political left was swift after a major voting-rights group announced this week it had dropped its attempt to block a new Republican-drawn congressional map from taking effect in 2022.The ACLU of Ohio, representing a… Continue reading

“Justice Department Files Voting Rights Lawsuit Against Galveston County, Texas to Challenge County Redistricting Plan”

March 24, 2022, 2:41 pmredistrictingDerek Muller

Complaint is here. Press release here. The Justice Department has initiated a handful of Section 2 challenges this redistricting cycle. It’s worth noting that unlike the Alabama litigation, as Rick P. blogged about here, this does… Continue reading

“Ohio primary date debate continues”

March 24, 2022, 6:30 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Ohio Capital Journal: The debate over a court’s role in changing the primary date continues in responses submitted to the Ohio Supreme Court.Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Bob Cupp flatly rejected the idea of a primary date… Continue reading

Supreme Court coverage roundup on Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

March 23, 2022, 2:25 pmredistrictingDerek Muller

Rick Hasen Bloomberg Milwaukee Journal Sentinel NBC News New York Times Wall Street Journal Washington Post

Breaking: Supreme Court, in Bizarre Unsigned Opinion, Strikes Wisconsin Legislative Maps on Voting Rights Grounds, Signalling New Hostility to the Voting Rights Act

March 23, 2022, 9:49 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

In a per curiam (unsigned) opinion on the shadow docket, over the dissent of Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, the Supreme Court has rejected a redistricting plan that a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court had adopted for drawing state assembly and senate… Continue reading

BREAKING: Supreme Court says Wisconsin Supreme Court erred in interpreting Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause precedents when adopting state legislative maps

March 23, 2022, 9:35 amredistrictingDerek Muller

The Court’s per curiam opinion in Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission is here. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Kagan, dissented. (More coverage to come later today.) The bottom line: We agree that the court committed legal error in… Continue reading

“With 6 weeks until Ohio’s primary, many voting districts still haven’t been decided”

March 23, 2022, 4:49 amredistrictingDerek Muller

NPR: Voters in Ohio are supposed to be able to vote in the state’s May 3 primary – up and down the ballot – but with just six weeks to go, the voting districts for the state legislature haven’t… Continue reading

“California Legislature upended by new political maps”

March 22, 2022, 5:23 pmlegislation and legislatures, redistrictingDerek Muller

Associated Press: “New political maps have upended the California Legislature this year by prodding more than two-dozen state lawmakers into early retirement or career changes, while others are forced into unfamiliar new districts ahead of the November election.”

Poll: “Very Few Voters Understand What’s Happening With Redistricting”

March 21, 2022, 11:41 amredistrictingDerek Muller

Some fascinating responses in this Morning Consult survey about public awareness and perception about redistricting and thoughts on redistricting rationales.