Alabama Appeals Congressional Map Decision to U.S. Supreme Court

By EditorJan 28, 2022
On Friday, Jan 28, the state of Alabama filed a motion for an administrative stay to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as a request for an appeal directly to the court from Monday's ruling of a three-judge federal district court. The panel of judges had enjoined the use of the newly drawn Alabama congressional district map on its finding that the map likely violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The federal district court panel concluded last week that the congressional map should have 2 majority-Black districts (or districts in which Black voters would be able to choose…
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Alabama Federal Court Blocks Congressional Map on Voting Rights Act Grounds. Gives Legislature 2 Week Deadline

By EditorJan 25, 2022
On Monday an Alabama Federal District Court blocked the new congressional map enacted in November of last year. The order gives the legislature 14 days to enact a new map that the court advises should include " either an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunityto elect a representative of their choice." Read the opinion here. Alabama's congressional map has had one majority-Black district since 1992 (District 7), and the map adopted in 2021 retained that district. Plaintiffs had argued that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies in this…
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Redistricting Headlines Jan 24, 2022: Ohio Commission Adopts New Maps Under Court Ordered Wire. 3 New Lawsuits Filed in 3 States.

Redistricting Headlines Jan 24, 2022: Ohio Commission Adopts New Maps Under Court Ordered Wire. 3 New Lawsuits Filed in 3 States.

By EditorJan 24, 2022
Last week was a busy one in the states for redistricting. It brought two new sets of maps and three lawsuits. The Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted a 2nd set of Senate and House maps by a 5-2 vote on Jan 22. The maps will be effective only for a 4-yr period (as opposed to the usual 10) because the map did not pass with the requisite bipartisan support required under state law. On Jan 14th the state Supreme Court invalidated Ohio's 2021 congressional map, giving the commission just 10 days to adopt another. The Connecticut Reapportionment failed to meet its deadline to…
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Michigan Commission’s Congressional Map gets a New Challenge in Federal Court

By EditorJan 24, 2022
A federal lawsuit challenging the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission's newly adopted congressional map was filed last week. In what could be a test of how federal courts view the relatively strict population equality standard of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit is alleging that the individual congressional district populations are not sufficiently equal. Read the complaint. The congressional map is also being challenged in state court, see Detroit Caucus v. Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The federal lawsuit also alleged several other failings of the commission's map including failure to follow the required state legal criteria regarding honoring communities of interest,…
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Kentucky Lawsuit Challenges New Congressional and State House Districts

By EditorJan 24, 2022
Redistricting in Kentucky came to a head last week after the Governor vetoed congressional and State House district maps passed by the Republican legislature (the senate map was not vetoed or signed by the governor and were enacted automatically). The next day, the legislature overrode the vetoes and Democrats promptly sued. Read the case here. Read the lawsuit here. News Coverage Lawsuit calls new Kentucky redistricting maps a 'geographical absurdity' (wdrb.com) See you in court: the legal battle over drawing lines this week on Capitol Chat (wuky.org) Are Kentucky's redistricting maps gerrymandered? UK election law expert weighs in. (lex18.com) Find…
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Listen: Wisconsin State Supreme Court Oral Argument in Redistricting Challenge

Listen: Wisconsin State Supreme Court Oral Argument in Redistricting Challenge

By EditorJan 24, 2022
On Nov 18, 2021, Dem. Governor Tony Evers vetoed the congressional and state Senate and House maps passed by the Wisconsin legislature a week earlier. The State Supreme Court took jurisdiction and heard oral arguments on Jan 19, 2022. Listen to the argument below. Learn more about the case in the case library. The court decided in November to take the approach of redrawing the maps as minimally as possible to comply with state and federal law as opposed to drawing districts from scratch. According to the Wisconsin Examiner, the justices "focused their questions on how to balance competing interests…
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Redistricting Headlines Jan 17 2022: Ohio Maps Cancelled by Court. NC Map Decision Gets Appealed. PA Congressional Redistricting in Disarray.

Redistricting Headlines Jan 17 2022: Ohio Maps Cancelled by Court. NC Map Decision Gets Appealed. PA Congressional Redistricting in Disarray.

By EditorJan 17, 2022
Redistricting Headlines for the week of January 10th 2022. Thie biggest news from last week comes from Ohio, where the State Supreme Court delivered a one-two punch to lawmakers by invalidating the state legislative district map on Wednesday and striking down the congressional map on Friday. It described the maps as "infused with undue partisan bias," and "incomprehensibly, more extremely biased than the 2011 plan that it replaced". This last point refers to the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018, which banned partisan gerrymandering when redrawing maps. To encourage bipartisan line-drawing, the constitutional provision also called for maps to…
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In One-Two Punch, Ohio Supreme Court Invalidates New Congressional Map Just 2 Days After Striking House and Senate Districts

By EditorJan 15, 2022
On Friday, the Ohio State Supreme Court announced its decision to invalidate the Republican-drawn 2021 congressional map, explaining that it "stacks the deck" against the opposite party. Voters in 2018 amended the state's constitution to prohibit excessive partisan map-drawing and the court concluded that the new map was a product of just that. Read the opinion and excerpts below. The now invalidated map had failed to pass the legislature by a supermajority vote and thus under the constitution, it would have only been in effect for 4 years. With the court's ruling on Friday, the legislature will have 30 days…
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Ohio Supreme Court Invalidates 2021 Senate and House Maps. Gives Commission 10 Days to Draw New Maps

By EditorJan 12, 2022
On Wednesday, Jan. 12th, The Ohio Supreme Court invalidated Republican-drawn state House and Senate district maps as partisan gerrymandering under the Ohio Constitution. The justices struck down the maps in a 4-3 decision, sending the maps back to the Commission with just a 10-day window to redraw the maps. Read the opinion below. "We hold that the plan is invalid because the commission did not attempt to draw a plan that meets the proportionality standard in Article XI, Section 6(B). We also conclude that the commission did not attempt to draw a plan that meets the standard in Section 6(A)—that…
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North Carolina’s Redistricting Maps Upheld by State Trial Court

By EditorJan 12, 2022
On Wednesday, Jan. 11th a North Carolina state trial court upheld the congressional and state legislative maps drawn by the Republican-dominated legislature in Nov of 2021. Read the opinion and excerpts below. Here is a breakdown of the court's conclusions of law regarding each allegation: Partisan Gerrymandering in Violation of the NC Constitution's Free Elections Clause: "The Free Elections Clause does not operate as a restraint on the General Assembly’s ability to redistrict for partisan advantage." Equal Protection Clause of the NC Constitution: "The Court finds that the plans are amply supported by arational basis and thus do not violate…
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