Missouri’s Congressional Map Survives Another Legal Challenge, but the Referendum Fight Is Still Alive

By EditorMay 28, 2026

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on May 27 that Gov. Mike Kehoe acted within his constitutional authority when he convened the special legislative session that produced the state's new congressional map, rejecting a legal challenge brought by the Missouri NAACP. In a unanimous opinion, the court held that the governor has broad authority to determine when and for what purpose to call the legislature into an "extraordinary" session, affirming the judgment of the lower trial court. The ruling closes out one of three legal tracks challenging Missouri's new map. The referendum signature dispute remains pending in state court, with Secretary…

Missouricaseupdates, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri

Court Declines to Block Florida’s GOP Map, Setting Up Longer Legal Fight

By EditorMay 26, 2026

A Leon County Circuit Judge ruled today, keeping Florida's mid-decade congressional map in place while the lawsuits continue and election officials prepare for the 2026 races. The judge found that plaintiffs had not shown a substantial likelihood of success, writing that the evidence presented so far was circumstantial and not direct proof of illegal intent. Plaintiffs already filed notices of appeal, and the lawsuits will continue to trial. The lawsuit alleges that the GOP-controlled Legislature and Governor DeSantis enacted a map that violates the State's 2010 Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibit drawing congressional (and state legislative) districts that favor incumbents…

Floridacaseupdates, Florida, mid-decade redistricting

Court Rules Alabama Must Use Court-Drawn Map for 2026

By EditorMay 26, 2026

A federal three-judge panel has once again blocked Alabama from using its 2023 congressional map, ordering the state to use a race-blind court-drawn plan for its 2026 elections. The court ordered Secretary of State Wes Allen to administer Alabama's remaining 2026 congressional elections, including the August special primaries, using the map previously imposed by the court, which created a second district where Black voters have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. The ruling came after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the court's earlier permanent injunction and ordered the panel to reconsider in light of Louisiana v. Callais. The…

AlabamaAlabama, caseupdates, mid-decade redistricting

South Carolina Mid-Decade Redistricting Is Dead. For Now

By EditorMay 26, 2026

The Republican-led South Carolina Senate voted Tuesday against advancing a new congressional map, ending the redistricting effort in the state for now. Twelve Republicans joined with Senate Democrats to vote for a motion to kill the legislative effort to redraw South Carolina's seven congressional districts. The vote was 20-24 against a motion to force a final vote on the bill/map. The high-profile push came to an abrupt end as South Carolina state senators adjourned the special session, backing away from changes to district lines amid surging early voting across the state. Lawmakers spent roughly three hours at the State House…

South Carolinacaseupdates, Latest, mid-decade redistricting, South Carolina

Virginia’s Redistricting Ordeal: A Brief Summary

By EditorMay 26, 2026

Virginia's Post-2020 Redistricting: From Commission to Courtroom When Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2020 establishing a bipartisan redistricting commission, it was widely seen as a model reform, a deliberate step away from partisan map-drawing toward a process governed by eight lawmakers and eight citizens working together. That promise quickly ran into reality: the commission deadlocked along partisan lines and missed its November 2021 deadline without producing a congressional map. The Virginia Supreme Court stepped in, appointed two special masters, one drawn from each party's nominees, and approved the resulting congressional map on December 28, 2021. That court-drawn…

Enacting a Redistricting Map, Virginiapolicyindepth, Virginia

Maryland Enacts State Voting Rights Act, with Local Elections at the Center

By EditorMay 25, 2026

Governor Wes Moore signed the Voting Rights Act of 2026 for Counties and Municipal Corporations (SB 255) into law on April 28, 2026, making Maryland the ninth state in the country to enact its own voting rights protections. The law directly targets local government electoral systems, prohibiting any county or municipal body from using an election method that dilutes or impairs a protected class's ability to elect candidates of their choice. To enforce the new standard, the Maryland Attorney General is authorized to investigate and sue local jurisdictions found to be operating such systems, while individual voters also gain a…

Local Redistricting, Marylandlocal-news, Maryland

Utah’s Court-Ordered Redistricting: Where Things Stand

By EditorMay 22, 2026

The Utah congressional map controversy continues into 2026. On November 10, 2025, a state trial court invalidated the Utah legislature's congressional map on the grounds that it violated the anti-partisan gerrymandering rules enacted under Proposition 4, which voters approved seven years ago. The court adopted a remedial map submitted by the plaintiffs in the case (The Utah League of Women Voters and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government) to be used in the 2026 mid-term election. That map created three Republican-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning district centered on Salt Lake County. In response, the Utah Legislature launched an aggressive multi-front…

State Laws, Utahmid-decade redistricting, policyindepth, Utah

From 1990 to 2030: A Short History of the Census Block-Boundary Suggestion Project

By EditorMay 22, 2026

The Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) is now in its fourth decade. It began as part of the Census Bureau's first nationwide Redistricting Data Program for the 1990 Census, following a 1984 pilot test that yielded positive results, which led to its full implementation. While census blocks were first used in 1940, only for cities of 50,000 or more inhabitants and other governments that contracted for the work, they were first used nationwide in 1990. Along with the nationwide census block-numbering system, which gave states the small-area geography they needed to meet Voting Rights Act obligations and minimal-population-deviation districting standards, BBSP helped move redistricting…

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local RedistrictingBBSP, dataindepth, localpage, U.S. Census Bureau

SCOTUS Reverses Mississippi Legislative Map Ruling

By EditorMay 18, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a brief order Monday, reversed a lower court's ruling that determined Mississippi lawmakers unlawfully diluted Black voting strength when it redrew the state's legislative districts. The Supreme Court's decision to toss out the ruling in the Mississippi case, along with a similar ruling in North Dakota, is the latest order set off by the justices' 6-3 decision in Callais last month. Earlier this month, the high court similarly tossed a Voting Rights Act (VRA) ruling against Alabama's congressional map that had mandated the state have two majority-Black districts. The Callais ruling, along with subsequent orders…

Mississippi, Voting Rights Actcaseupdates, Latest, Mississippi

Why the 2030 Census LUCA Program Matters to Redistricting and GIS Staff

By EditorMay 16, 2026

Most redistricting discussions focus on the maps, who draws them, what criteria they must meet, and how they will hold up in court. But every redistricting map built from 2030 Census data will ultimately rest on a foundation that GIS and redistricting staff rarely talk about: the Census Bureau's residential address list. The Local Update of Census Addresses operation is the first to occur in every decennial census cycle, and it gives state, tribal, and local governments their only opportunity to directly help ensure an accurate enumeration by reviewing and submitting updates or corrections to the confidential address list before…

Census Data and Geography, Local Redistrictingdataindepth, local-admin, LUCA, U.S. Census Bureau