An Overview of Local Redistricting

By EditorJun 29, 2025

The local redistricting process, where counties, cities, school boards, and special districts redraw their geographic boundaries, shares many of the same legal and procedural frameworks as state‐level redistricting but operates at a far more granular scale. Below is an in‐depth look at how local redistricting unfolds, key hurdles jurisdictions face, proven best practices, a general timeline, and how these local efforts differ from statewide map‐drawing. Overview of Local Redistricting Any elected body based on districts, such as county boards, city councils, school boards, utility districts, even some judicial and special‐purpose bodies, must periodically redraw lines so that each district remains…

Enacting a Redistricting Map, Local RedistrictingBASICS

Review: Local Election Official’s Guide to Redistricting

By EditorJun 29, 2025

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (EAC) Local Election Officials’ Guide to Redistricting serves as a practical roadmap for local jurisdictions drawing new district boundaries after each decennial census. Aimed squarely at election administrators, who may lack dedicated redistricting staff, the guide walks readers step by step through the legal requirements, data management needs, public‐engagement obligations, map‐drawing techniques, and the implementation tasks needed to complete a redistricting map. At the heart of the guide is a discussion of the legal framework governing redistricting. It reiterates constitutional mandates for equal representation (“one person, one vote”) and underscores compliance with both Section 2…

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Experts React to the Supreme Court “Punt” on the Louisiana Voting Rights Case

By EditorJun 28, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court made an extraordinary move on June 27, when it declined to resolve Louisiana v. Callais and instead scheduled the case for a second round of briefing and argument next Term. The unsigned order keeps January 2024’s remedial map (Act 2/SB 8) in place and promises a follow-up directive “in due course” that may add new questions for counsel. An NPR article highlights just how rare this is, quoting several redistricting experts on the matter. Some have called the decision “puzzling,” given the straightforward factual record, while others suggest this decision (or non-decision) by the court could…

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Baltimore County’s Proposed Council Map Adds Two Members but There’s No Agreement on Map Yet

By EditorJun 28, 2025

The Baltimore County Redistricting Commission’s final redistricting map proposal reshapes the council into nine districts, up from seven, following voter approval of a charter amendment. The proposed map includes two majority-Black districts, two majority-BIPOC districts, and five majority-White districts. Council member Izzy Patoka emphasized that the expansion offers more opportunities for women and people of color, but acknowledged the map still needs five of the current council’s seven votes to pass, meaning bipartisan support will be essential. The plan faces resistance from Republican council members such as David Marks, who criticized the map for having a “partisan objective” and splitting communities like…

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Supreme Court Delays Ruling on Louisiana’s Second Majority‑Black District, Rehearing Slated Next Term

By EditorJun 27, 2025

On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to issue a final verdict on Louisiana’s revised congressional map, which added a second majority‑Black district following a lower court’s finding that the state’s original 2022 map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black representation. Instead, the high court will rehear the case during its next term that begins in October. Justice Thomas included a dissent with the rehearing order. The challenge stems from non‑Black voters who argue the updated map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. A three‑judge panel blocked the map, but the Court previously permitted its use in the 2024 election…

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ACLU and League of Women Voters Take South Carolina’s Partisan Gerrymandering Fight to State Supreme Court

By EditorJun 23, 2025

This Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the South Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in League of Women Voters of South Carolina v. Alexander, a landmark case brought by the ACLU, ACLU-SC, and League of Women Voters. Filed in July 2024, the lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the state’s 2022 congressional map, which plaintiffs argue was drawn with the express aim of strengthening the Republican majority in the First Congressional District. They contend this map intentionally shifts Democratic-leaning populations, particularly Black voters, out of the district, violating Article 1, Section 5 of the South Carolina Constitution, which guarantees "free and open" elections…

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Reform Group Urges West Virginia to End Prison Gerrymandering Before 2030 Census

By EditorJun 23, 2025

The reform group Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has reignited calls for West Virginia to address prison gerrymandering, a redistricting practice that counts incarcerated people as residents of prison locations rather than their home communities. This approach, used during the last redistricting cycle, disproportionately skews representation in districts that house correctional facilities. According to the PPI, some legislative districts in the state have prison populations making up as much as 18% of their total count, meaning those districts have significantly fewer actual residents with voting power compared to others. Reform advocates argue that this violates the foundational democratic principle of equal…

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U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument : Louisiana v. Callais (Congressional Map)

By EditorMay 15, 2025

During the Supreme Court oral argument in Louisiana v. Callais on March 24, 2025, the central issue was whether the congressional map enacted by Louisiana in 2024 appropriately balanced constitutional protections and the requirements of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The Legal Defense Fund (LDF), represented by Stuart Naifeh, argued that the map should be upheld as it fairly acknowledged the political power of Black Louisianians, who constitute one-third of the state's population, by creating two majority-Black districts. This was in contrast to a previous map from 2022 deemed likely to violate the VRA by having only one majority-Black district.…

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From Polk to Johnson: Iowa’s Quiet Redistricting Revolution at the County Level

By EditorMar 01, 2025

Iowa’s 2020-cycle state maps drew the headlines, but the past four years have also reshaped local power centers across the state. Polk County, home to Des Moines and more than half a million residents, used the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) for the first time to redraw its five Board of Supervisors districts. Draft lines released in February 2022 paired two long-time incumbents and, according to one UVA analysis, created two genuine toss-up seats, raising the prospect of the county’s first GOP majority in decades. Public hearings that spring highlighted concern over Des Moines high-school clusters and partisan balance, but supervisors…

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Justice Department Files Voting Rights Suit Against Fayette County, Tennessee Commissioners

By EditorJan 17, 2025

Press Release: January 16, 2025 The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Fayette County, Tennessee, alleging that the Board of County Commissioners violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act when it adopted a redistricting plan that denies the county's Black voters an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, alleges that during the 2021 redistricting cycle, the County Commission deliberately rejected multiple districting plans that would have combined Black communities in districts that would allow Black voters to elect representatives of their choice. In doing so,…

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