Leading Expert in Redistricting “Grofman,” Suggests a Path to Proving Partisan Gerrymandering

By EditorJul 09, 2018
Bernard Grofman, author, professor at the University of California at Irvine, and an expert witness in a multitude of redistricting cases, published this article in the Washington Post today.  In it Grofman offers a way for courts to assess the level of partisan gerrymandering on a district-by-district basis when the challenge is based on the 14th amendment.  His assessment is timely, given the Supreme Court's recent decision in Gill v. Whitford, which rejected challenges to a map as a whole.  See our discussion of that here.  Grofman points to the court's line of racial gerrymandering cases as a guide and…
Equal Protection, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, ,
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State Supreme Court Redraws Pennsylvania Congressional Map

State Supreme Court Redraws Pennsylvania Congressional Map

By EditorFeb 22, 2018
  Pennsylvania - This January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the state's congressional map was an unconstitutional gerrymander.  The plaintiffs had alleged the map is an eggregious partisan gerrymander executed by Republican state lawmakers that allowed Republicans to win 72% of the state's congressional delegation with just 50% of the vote.   Here is the new map that court quickly adopted after the PA. state legislature failed to meet its deadline to agree and enact a replacement map.  Read more at NBCnews, Washington Post, and New York Times.    
NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, State Laws, , , , ,
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The FiveThirtyEight Blog Releases the Atlas of Redistricting. The Maps are Impressive but Unusable

The FiveThirtyEight Blog Releases the Atlas of Redistricting. The Maps are Impressive but Unusable

By EditorJan 28, 2018
  This week, the sports and politics polling blog FiveThirtyEight released its Atlas of Redistricting.  It takes a comprehensive look at the mapping possibilities for every congressional district in the nation, and is part of the site’s Gerrymandering Project, which seeks to uncover in their words, “[what] is greatly misunderstood . . .” about redistricting and whether “gerrymandering can (or should be) killed.” The maps are impressive.  They produce congressional maps for seven common, but vastly different redistricting goals.  The result is that you get to see what your (or any) state’s congressional map would like if it were drawn…
Equal Protection, FEATURES, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, , , , , , , ,
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Highlights from State Supreme Court Oral Argument in Pennsylvania Congressional Map Challenge

Highlights from State Supreme Court Oral Argument in Pennsylvania Congressional Map Challenge

By EditorJan 18, 2018
Pennsylvania - On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of the challenges to the state's 2011 congressional map.  The case, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (LWV) v. Pennsylvania General Assembly, alleges the map is an eggregious partisan gerrymander executed by Republican state lawmakers that allowed Republicans to win 72% of the state's congressional delegation with just 50% of the vote.  Here are the highlights from the oral arument, which lasted just over 2 hours: (more…)
Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, State Laws, , , , ,
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The Efficiency Gap Visualized Through the Decades

The Efficiency Gap Visualized Through the Decades

By EditorJan 18, 2017
The hottest thing in redistricting - if there is such a thing - is undoubtedly the emergence of "Efficiency Gap" analysis, and whether this measurement of how gerrymandered a map is, will receive the imprimatur of the U.S. Supreme Court.  While we wait, The Campaign Legal Center has released this report looking back through the decades to measure the efficiency gap in state legislative and congressional maps.  Their point is that partisan gerrymandering has never been more rampant and excessive than right now, but the charts show other interesting patterns as well.  Read the Report here.
Equal Protection, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Race Rules, , ,
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Texas Federal Court Imposes Preclearance on City of Pasadena

Texas Federal Court Imposes Preclearance on City of Pasadena

By EditorJan 08, 2017
Pasadena, Texas - The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in this ruling invalidated the city's move from an eight-member district redistricting map to a mixed map of six single member districts and two at-large seats for electing its city council.  The court's finding of minority vote dilution (of Hispanic voters) under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act includes an order to subject the city to preclearance requirements, which would mean election officials must clear any future redistricting changes to the Justice Department for approval.  Read the initial case filing by plaintiffs here. There were several…
Local Redistricting, NEWS, Race in Redistricting, Redistricting, Redistricting Race Rules, Voting Rights Act, , , , ,
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Packing Minorities Into Districts. When Is That Ever Okay?

Packing Minorities Into Districts. When Is That Ever Okay?

By EditorDec 05, 2016
Washington DC - The Supreme Court will tackle that question today as it hears oral arguments in two redistricting cases.  Both cases are alleged racial gerrymander claims; one orginating from Virginia's state legislative map and the other from North Carolina's congressional district map.  (more…)
Race in Redistricting, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules, Voting Rights Act, , , , , , , , , ,
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Federal District Court Finds Partisan Gerrymander in Wisconsin Assembly Map

Federal District Court Finds Partisan Gerrymander in Wisconsin Assembly Map

By EditorNov 21, 2016
Wisconsin -  A three-judge federal district court in Wisconsin has invalidated the Republican-drawn state assembly district map enacted in August 2011 as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.  If the ruling stands - and that's a very big "IF," this case will be the first successful approach to creating a workable standard for courts to use in determining whether a partisan gerrymander rises to the level of impermissible gerrymandering under the first amendment and equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.  Read more in the New York Times ,  Salon.com, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Rick Hasen's Electionlawblog.        Read the District Court…
First Amendment, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, , ,
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