Category Archives: redistricting

“Due Process, Fair Play, and Excessive Partisanship: A New Principle for Judicial Review of Election Laws”

July 29, 2016, 7:55 amelection administration, redistricting, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

This looks to be an important new draft from Ned Foley. Here is the abstract: American democracy is plagued by excessive partisanship, and yet constitutional law thus far has been incapable of redressing this ill. Gerrymandering is one clear example:… Continue reading

“Senators in contempt over secret emails get day before Supreme Court of Virginia”

July 20, 2016, 8:20 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Daily Press: A case that could recalibrate what documents state legislators can keep secret was heard Tuesday in the Supreme Court of Virginia. Vesilind v. Virginia State Board of Elections is primarily a redistricting case, brought to challenge 11… Continue reading

“The Wrong Way to Count Prisoners”

July 16, 2016, 10:27 amfelon voting, redistrictingRick Hasen

NYT editorial: Voting rights advocates have been pressing the Census Bureau for more than a decade to stop counting prison inmates as “residents” of prisons — where they typically remain for only a short time — instead of the communities… Continue reading

Two Big Election Law Decisions Out of Texas are Pending…..And More from Other States

July 10, 2016, 1:45 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter idRick Hasen

The federal challenge to Texas’s strict voter identification law is pending before the entire Fifth Circuit sitting en banc. The Supreme Court set a soft July 20 deadline for a decision—after that the Court has invited plaintiffs to seek immediate… Continue reading

Justice Ginsburg’s First Draft in Evenwel Said Use of Total Population, Rather Than Voters, Required and Not Just Permitted

July 8, 2016, 8:48 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

From RBG’s must-read interview with AP’s Mark Sherman: Ginsburg was pleased with her majority opinion in yet another case from Texas in which the court upheld the state’s decision to count everyone, and not just eligible voters, in drawing its… Continue reading

“Free Webinar July 12: Supreme Court Redistricting Cases”

July 5, 2016, 11:11 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Lisa Sorenen blogs about a webinar. I’m one of the speakers.

4th Cir. Finds One Person, One Vote Violation in Wake County, NC

July 1, 2016, 8:06 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

The opinion in Raleigh Wake Citizens Association v. Wake Co. Board of Elections is here. The court applies the standard from Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission for deviations under 10%, finding it “more probable than not that the… Continue reading

Wice on 2020 Census Residence Criteria

June 30, 2016, 7:56 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

Jeff Wice writes at New York Election News: Of major importance is a change to the way prison population are reported. After the 2010 census, New York, Maryland and Delaware enacted laws to reassign prisoner populations to “homes of… Continue reading

“Wisconsin Redistricting Lawsuit Could Reverberate Nationally”

June 28, 2016, 7:25 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

American Prospect on Whitford v. Nichol.

Coverage of NC Gerrymandering Case

June 28, 2016, 7:51 amredistrictingDan Tokaji

On yesterday’s noting of probable jurisdiction in McCrory v. Harris: Charlotte Observer The Hill Politico Roll Call U.S. News

Wang’s Partisan Gerrymandering Calculator

June 26, 2016, 7:44 pmredistrictingDan Tokaji

Check it out: Sam Wang has created this site (currently in beta) with online calculators for the statistical tests described in his recent article in Stanford Law Review.

“Drawing the Line: How redistricting turned America from blue to red.”

June 23, 2016, 12:43 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Elizabeth Kolbert reviews Ratf**ked in the New Yorker.

“Common Cause Announces Winners of National Contest to End Gerrymandering”

June 20, 2016, 12:53 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Release: Three academics with fresh ideas to identify and analyze how politicians draw legislative boundaries for political advantage have been declared the winners of Common Cause’s second annual Gerrymander Standard Writing Competition. 1st Place: Wendy Tam Cho and … Continue reading

“NCSL/SLLC Supreme Court Redistricting Cases Webinar”

June 9, 2016, 1:09 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Announcement: It is a banner year in the Supreme Court for redistricting cases! Aside from Evenwel v. Abbott, holding that states may redraw legislative districts based on total population, the Court decided three other redistricting cases that will be important… Continue reading