Category Archives: redistricting

“South Carolina Republicans ask justices to let district ruled a racial gerrymander go forward”

March 21, 2024, 11:47 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Amy Howe for SCOTUSBlog: Telling the justices that if they do not intervene they will create “confusion and uncertainty over this year’s elections,” a group of Republican lawmakers from South Carolina came to the Supreme Court this week, asking the… Continue reading

Wilfred Codrington in Balkinization Symposium on “A Real Right to Vote:” “A [More] Real Right to Vote”

March 11, 2024, 7:21 amReal Right to Vote, redistrictingRick Hasen

Wilfred’s post on my book, A Real Right to Vote: Many congratulations are due to Professor Richard L. Hasen on the publication of his newest book, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy. In… Continue reading

“Supreme Court’s Delay Creates Uncertainty for South Carolina Election”

March 8, 2024, 4:15 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Jimmy Hoover for National Law Journal: New candidates are throwing their hats in the ring in Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s South Carolina congressional district despite a court ruling last year striking down the GOP drawn map as an unconstitutional “racial… Continue reading

“Republicans Hatched a Secret Assault on the Voting Rights Act in Washington State”

March 2, 2024, 3:26 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

ProPublica: Republican Paul Graves’ work was about to come undone. In the wee hours of Nov. 15, 2021, he and his fellow Republican on Washington state’s independent redistricting commission had finally prevailed on their Democratic counterparts to agree to the … Continue reading

“Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects move to reconsider state’s congressional maps”

March 1, 2024, 4:45 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request to reconsider the state’s congressional maps ahead of the next election, ensuring the current district boundaries will remain in place for 2024. The court’s decision ends a last-minute push … Continue reading

“Democrats Blew Their Big Opportunity to Make New York Winnable in 2024”

March 1, 2024, 12:42 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Alexander Sammon for Slate: After over a year in court, millions of dollars on lawyers’ fees, an overhaul of the state’s highest court, and an all-out battle to throw out New York’s congressional districts and replace them with something… Continue reading

“NY Gov. Approves Bill Directing Redistricting Suits to NY’s Major Metropolitan Courts”

February 29, 2024, 2:40 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Law.com: An amended bill that limits New Yorkers to filing redistricting lawsuits in Manhattan and Albany, Westchester and Erie counties was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday, after the Assembly approved it earlier in the day, while the… Continue reading

“Shadow disticts”

February 27, 2024, 9:32 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Quinn Yeargain has written this article for the Cardozo Law Review. Here is the abstract: Redistricting disputes—for congressional, state legislative, and local districts—have proven all-consuming in politics. Litigation over the legality of districts, under both federal and state law, is… Continue reading

“Gov. Tony Evers signs new election maps, ending Wisconsin Republicans’ grip on legislative power”

February 19, 2024, 8:55 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Wisconsin Republicans lost their more than decade-long grip on control of the state Legislature Monday after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed into law new electoral maps that reshape down-ballot races in this battleground state. Evers signed a bill … Continue reading

“A Redistricting Surprise in New York: A Map That Plays Few Favorites”

February 15, 2024, 5:44 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: When New York’s top court ordered the state to redraw its congressional map late last year, the state’s ruling Democrats were widely expected to exploit the opening to aggressively reshape district lines in their favor. But on Thursday, a… Continue reading

“Wisconsin Republicans vote to weaken their lock on the legislature”

February 14, 2024, 5:41 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Patrick Marley for WaPo: Wisconsin Republicans approved maps Tuesday that would weaken their ironclad grip on the state legislature, backing new district lines supported by the Democratic governor out of fears that the state’s top court could impose ones that… Continue reading

Digging in in the Badger State

February 11, 2024, 11:16 amredistrictingJustin Levitt

Justin here. There’s an oddity in the most recent round of Wisconsin’s redistricting travails. Democratic legislators (and later, the Democratic Governor) seem to be voting against an ostensible olive branch extended by the Republican legislative leadership. And I wonder if… Continue reading

“Civil Rights Groups Secure Victory in LandmarkCase Challenging Racial Discrimination inLouisiana’s State Legislative Maps”

February 8, 2024, 3:30 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Release: In a victory for fair maps, a federal court today ruled in favor of Louisiana voters, agreeing that the current state House and Senate district maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The plaintiffs who challenged the… Continue reading

“Partisan Gerrymandering Cases in State Supreme Courts in the 2020s Redistricting Round”

February 7, 2024, 5:47 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Jonathan Cervas, Bernie Grofman, Scott Matsuda, and Justine Kawa have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: After the U.S. Supreme Court opted out of any federal court role in policing partisan gerrymandering in its 2019 decision, Rucho… Continue reading