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| Alaska Redistricting Board Submits Modified Legislative Map to State Supreme Court |
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May 16, 2012- Alaska's high court has ordered the redistricting board's revised legislative map adopted after a previous one was invalidated by the court. The revised map was also overturned by a lower court on April 20, but will be used as an interim map for the state's upcoming election.
After a state superior court judge overturned the board's second map attempt the board appealed to the Supreme Court to use its original map. However, the court preferred the revised map as an interim one but did order that districts in the Southeastern portion of the state be modified for compliance with the state constitution, making it clear that it does not believe Native American influence districts in that area are required under the Voting Rights Act. Fairbanks Daily News Miner, The Republic, Juneau Empire, |
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| Updates |
 Alabama Lawmakers Unveil New State Legislative Districts
May 10, 2012 - The Alabama legislature's Joint Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment released a new proposed map of state house and senate districts on Wednesday in preparation for a special legislative session later this month. The map creates a new majority-minority house district in the Madison County area. Lawmakers will have one week to review the map and will be able to offer changes during the special session.
News Courier, Gadsen Times, Tuscaloosanews.com, AL.com. |
Arkansas State Officials Testify at Trial on Legislative Districts
May 10, 2012 - In a lawsuit filed by an African-American state senator alleging intentional discrimination and minority vote dilution, a federal panel of judges heard testimony Wednesday from members of the state's three member Apportionment Board. Panel members, which consists of the Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, each testified about the events surrounding the Board's work. The Attorney General denied that race was a dominant factor in the drawing of any district. Closing arguments are expected Thursday. The Courier News, THV-11, Arkansas Matters. |
Maryland Legislative Districts Draw Four Lawsuits in State Court
May 3, 2012- The deadline for filing challenges to Maryland's legislative map was May 1st. Four lawsuits have been filed with the Maryland Court of Appeals (the state's highest court). Two state senators are among the plaintiffs. The challenges center around shared districts in the Baltimore and Frederick areas that cross jurisdictional lines. There are also claims that urban districts were intentionally underpopulated while rural areas were overpopulated. The new districts were in enacted in late Februrary. Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, MarylandReporter.com, Patch.com. |
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 May 2, 2012 - Two more lawsuits have been filed against New Hampshire's redrawn state house districts for a total of four. Three of the plaintiffs are cities who claim that the plan does not allocate the proper number of state representatives to their jurisdictions as required under the states' constitution. The objecting cities are Concord, Gilford, and Manchester. A suit was also filed by nine Republican House members. Read coverage: Boston Herald, Union Leader. |
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