Category Archives: redistricting

“New Report Highlights Arizona as a Model for Redistricting Reform Nationwide”

September 16, 2019, 8:33 pmcitizen commissions, redistrictingRick Hasen

Ash Center: Today, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a research center at Harvard Kennedy School released “The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission: One State’s Model for Gerrymandering Reform,” a new report detailing the lessons learned from… Continue reading

“A Surprise Vote, Thrown Phone And Partisan ‘Mistrust’ Roil N.C. As Maps Are Redrawn”

September 16, 2019, 6:55 amredistrictingRick Hasen

NPR: Despite the assertions of Senate leaders, there remains some skepticism about whether the court will agree to enact the maps the legislature approves.Stanford University professor and election law expert Nathaniel Persily was appointed Friday to help the court… Continue reading

Nate Persily Appointed as Referee in North Carolina State Partisan Gerrymandering Case: What It Means

September 13, 2019, 9:50 amredistrictingRick Hasen

The three-judge state court which found North Carolina’s legislative districts to be unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders under that state’s constitution has appointed Stanford professor Nate Persily as the referee/special master in the case. This means that Persily at the least… Continue reading

“Instead of Fixing Their Gerrymander, North Carolina Republicans Are Trolling the Court”

September 10, 2019, 3:06 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate.

Deep Dive: “How a decade of voting rights fights led to fewer redistricting safeguards for Texas voters of color”

September 10, 2019, 10:19 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Worth your time from Alexa Ura.

“The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders in U.S. State Legislatures”

September 9, 2019, 1:11 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

New report from the Schwarzenegger Institute. Executive summary:

“Michigan has a smart idea for fixing gerrymandering. Conservatives want to crush it.”

September 9, 2019, 8:24 amredistrictingRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Vox. It begins: Reformers hoping to rein in partisan gerrymandering have a big idea that’s caught on in several states: handing the redistricting power over to an independent commission, rather than politicians in the… Continue reading

“Minority Success in Non-Majority Minority Districts: Finding the ‘Sweet Spot'”

September 9, 2019, 7:42 amredistrictingRick Hasen

David Lublin, Lisa Handley, Tom Brunell, and Bernie Grofman have written this article for the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. Here is the abstract: Though African-American and Latino electoral success in state legislative and congressional elections continues to occur… Continue reading

Richard Briffault Talked to The Takeaway About the North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Ruling

September 8, 2019, 4:49 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Listen here.

Must Read: Hofeller Files, Leaked to David Daley in New Yorker, Show Use of Race in Gerrymandering and Considering Impact of Voter ID

September 6, 2019, 2:09 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Blockbuster: Hofeller did not follow his own advice. Before his death, in August, 2018, he saved at least seventy thousand files and several years of e-mails. A review of those records and e-mails—which were recently obtained first by The… Continue reading

What’s Going to Happen with a Challenge to North Carolina’s Congressional District Partisan Gerrymander? Two Significant Hurdles to a Lawsuit.

September 5, 2019, 9:34 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Democrats are now pondering a state court challenge to North Carolina’s partisan gerrymandering of the state’s 13 congressional districts, following a state court ruling that the state legislative districts are a partisan gerrymander. The U.S. Supreme Court in the… Continue reading

“The Battle Over the Files of a Gerrymandering Mastermind”

September 5, 2019, 9:15 amredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: At the heart of a decisive court ruling on Tuesday striking down North Carolina’s state legislative maps was evidence culled from the computer backups of the man who drew them: Thomas B. Hofeller, the Republican strategist and master… Continue reading

“Republicans fear drubbing in next round of redistricting”

September 5, 2019, 7:15 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Politico: Democrats were caught napping in the 2010 election ahead of the last round of redistricting — and it cost them control of Congress for nearly a decade.Now Republicans are warning the same thing could happen to them.Senior Republicans… Continue reading