Category Archives: redistricting

“All the Pretty Little Districts: Why You Need to Stop Whining About Gerrymandering”

August 24, 2013, 11:47 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Jonathan Bernstein: Of all the good-government obsessions that keep people focused on process instead of substance, one of the very worst—and I know that lots of you reading this share it—is over the “unfairness” of how congressional district lines are… Continue reading

“U.S. Is Suing in Texas Cases Over Voting by Minorities”

August 22, 2013, 5:50 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, redistricting, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Charlie Savage reports for the NYT.

A Few Quick Thoughts on DOJ’s Suit Against Texas on Voter ID and Moves on Redistricting

August 22, 2013, 9:57 amDepartment of Justice, redistricting, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

As I explained in this National Law Journal piece from a few weeks ago, AG Holder is trying whatever he can to make up for the loss of the preclearance provisions of Section 5. But thanks to the Supreme Court’s… Continue reading

“Can You Solve Slate’s Gerrymandering Jigsaw Puzzle?”

August 21, 2013, 8:27 ampedagogy, redistrictingRick Hasen

Enjoy! Great election law teaching tool.

VRA Preclearance (A Response to Pildes/Tokaji, pt. 2)

August 19, 2013, 5:16 pmelection administration, redistricting, voter registration, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

(At Rick Hasen’s request, I’ve posted (with permission) two listserv responses to this post by Rick Pildes and Dan Tokaji. The first was from Mike Pitts. For this one, you can blame me. The version below is modified a… Continue reading

VRA Preclearance (A Response to Pildes/Tokaji, pt. 1)

August 19, 2013, 4:45 pmelection administration, redistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

(Re-posted on behalf of Mike Pitts, from a listserv email, with permission, in response to this post): I have great respect for Dan Tokaji and Rick Pildes. They are smart folks and excellent scholars. And they may well… Continue reading

Bail-in: local, non-southern edition

August 12, 2013, 3:19 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Justin here. In the wake of Shelby County, attention will naturally follow cases seeking bail-in for jurisdictions once covered by sections 4 and 5. Like Texas, where there’s the opposite of the “New York, New York” scenario: if… Continue reading

“2020 Redistricting? The Arizona GOP Is ON IT”

August 12, 2013, 3:14 pmcitizen commissions, redistrictingRick Hasen

Never too early.

“Texas primaries could be delayed again over redistricting”

August 11, 2013, 10:00 pmDepartment of Justice, redistricting, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

AP reports.

“Texas: We Only Hate Democrats, Not Minorities”

August 9, 2013, 10:48 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Frank Wilkinson for Bloomberg View: “So, here’s the question the federal courts must decide: When the white party uses its legislative authority to undermine the brown and black party, is that a racial act or merely a political one?”

“Congressional District Compactness, Gerrymandering By State”

August 8, 2013, 7:39 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Governing computes.

Lisa Manheim on “Redistricting Litigation and the Delegation of Democratic Design”

August 6, 2013, 12:26 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

Lisa Manheim of University of Washington has posted this article on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: The power to redraw electoral lines is the power to design elections. Enormous significance therefore attaches to any delegation of redistricting authority. Yet in every… Continue reading