Strange Alliances in Fayetteville Voting Rights Lawsuit

By EditorJan 26, 2016

Fayetteville, Georgia - Fayetteville's school board and board of commissioners reluctantly have decided to do away with at-large voting. Ironically, some blacks are not happy with a decision that was meant to benefit them. This article in the Atlanta-Journal-Constitution details the not so typical suburb's unique politics. Read more.

Local Redistrictingat-large voting, Fayetteville, Georgia

Listen to U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio in Evenwel v. Abbott

By EditorJan 25, 2016

On December 8, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Evenwel v. Abbott, on the concept of “one person, one vote” and whether states could consider total population or the number of eligible voters when redrawing legislative districts. Click below to listen.

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationAbbott, evenel, texas redistricting

U.S. Supreme Court: Shelby County Cannot Recoup Attorney Fees for Winning Landmark Voting Rights Case

By EditorJan 25, 2016

Today the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Shelby County, Alabama. It means that Shelby is stuck with the $2 million bill for winning its landmark case against the Voting Rights Act. It had filed a petition to recover its attorneys fees, which is allowed under the Act but a lower court denied the claim and the Supreme Court agreed. The lower court ruled on the basis that the litigation did not advance the law's anti-discriminatory purpose. Read the NYT article here.

LAW, NEWS, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race RulesAlabama, attorney fees, States

Olsen’s Algorithm: Computerized Redistricting for Maximum Compactness

By EditorJan 21, 2016

This Washington Post article suggests that "compactness" trumps everything else in redistricting. It gives better outcomes than drawing lines around communities of interest and it beats the network of voting rights laws on the book. Take a look at what maps would look like if they were drawn for optimal compactness. Read more.

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Redistricting Criteriacompactness, computerized, processid, redistricting

Redistricting from an Engineering Point of View

By EditorJan 19, 2016

This Daily Kos article shows just how easy redistricting can be by using simple geometry. No algorithm yet can tackle the various state and federal statutory requirements. Oh, and then there's the constitution.

Redistricting, REFORM, Strategy and Politicscomputerized, processid, redistricting

Video – The Voting Rights Act 50 Yrs. Later

By EditorJan 11, 2016

Wash. DC: Professors Julian Zelizer and Orville Vernon Burton talked about the factors that led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and challenges to voter’s rights after the Supreme Court invalidated part of the act in 2013.

Redistricting Race Rulesfeatured

Voting Rights Gets A New Scholarly Institution

By EditorNov 17, 2015

Voting Rights litigators, advocates, experts and practitioners have a new resource both online and off with the newly established Voting Rights Institute at Georgetown Law. The institute was formed in partnership with the American Constitution Society and the Campaign Legal Center. Many of the stalwarts working behind the scenes in voting rights litigation came together for what many would say is a much needed destination for voting rights scholarship, a subject often lost in the larger civil rights agenda. (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationACS, Campaign Legal Center, Georgetown Law, Gerry Hebert, Voting Rights Institute, washington dc

Weekly Redistricting Update

By EditorNov 17, 2015

Florida: State Legislature Cries "Uncle," Gives Up On a Legislative District Map Last week the Florida Legislature ended its second special redistricting session without a map for state senate districts. Senate leaders are throwing the issue back to the court, and have proposed that the court have a special master draw the map. This "proposal" reflects many senators' disapproval of the court's handling of the congressional map redraw, which invited parties to the litigation to propose maps instead of having a more neutral party redraw the lines. A court hearing is schedule for December 14th. Virginia: Supreme Court Will…

RedistrictingFlorida, Texas, texas redistricting, Virginia

Supreme Ct Preview: Persily Amicus Brief on the One Person One Vote Requirement

By EditorNov 13, 2015

In this latest Supreme Court case Evenwel v. Abbott, exploring the claim that political redistricting should focus on balancing the number of eligible voters in the population across districts as opposed to total population, several amicus briefs have been submitted by interested parties. None other than Nathaniel Persily; Stanford Law professor and a sought after expert on redistricting has submitted this brief along with several other equally accomplished colleagues in the voting/redistricting field: Bernard Grofman, Stephen Ansolabehere, Charles Stewart III, and Bruce Cain. Oral argument is scheduled for December 8th. (more…)

Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigationamicus brief, Ansolabehere, Evenwel, Grofman, lawid, one person one vote, Persily, Supreme Court

Redistricting Population Controversy: Pits Rural Against Urban

By EditorNov 12, 2015

Vice President of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Nina Perales writes this article in the Washington Post's "In Theory" series urging the Supreme Court to maintain total population as an acceptable standard for drawing political districts. (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, one person one vote, Supreme Court