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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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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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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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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Illinois Federal Court Rejects Voting Rights Act and Racial Gerrymandering Challenges to Legislature’s State Senate and House Maps

By EditorDec 31, 2021
On Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a per curiam opinion rejecting the claims of three groups of plaintiffs in the consolidated cases (McConchie, Contreras, and East St. Louis NAACP) against the state legislative district maps, which the legislature approved in September. The claims included allegations of racial gerrymandering and minority vote dilution in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In regards to the votings rights claims, the court characterized the plaintiff's view of the maps as a failure to "maximize" minority electoral success, and warned that the Supreme Court has…
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Arkansas State House Map Gets Voting Rights Act Challenge in Federal Court

By EditorDec 31, 2021
On Wednesday, the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel filed a lawsuit against the newly enacted Arkansas State House district map. The suit alleges minority vote dilution in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The case is Arkansas State Conf. NAACP v. Arkansas Bd. of Apportionment. Read the Complaint. PRESS RELEASE DECEMBER 29, 2021 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Arkansas, Law Office of Bryan L. Sells LLC, and Dechert LLP filed a federal lawsuit today challenging a new redistricting plan for the Arkansas State House of Representatives that would undermine the voting strength of…
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GROUPS LAUNCH LEGAL CHALLENGES OVER ALABAMA RACIAL GERRYMANDERING

By EditorNov 16, 2021
A group of voters backed by several civil rights organizations have filed a pair of lawsuits against Alabama's congressional and state legislative districts enacted just 12 days ago. The first lawsuit alleges the congressional map violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The second suit claims both the congressional and statehouse maps are racial gerrymanders. Read the complaints here: Milligan v. Merrill (congressional) and Thomas v. Merrill (congressional and state legislative). PRESS RELEASE (Nov. 15, 2021): BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Individual voters joined with civil rights and faith groups today to file a pair of lawsuits in federal court challenging…
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Ohio Redistricting Maps Attract 3 Partisan Gerrymandering Lawsuits in 4 Days. Read Them Here.

By EditorSep 29, 2021
The recently passed Ohio State redistricting maps have so far drawn three lawsuits; each of them claiming the map is a brazen partisan gerrymander. Here is a look at all three complaints. The first lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and the Ohio chapter of the African American trade union group the A. Philip Randolph Institute, as well as a group of individual Ohio voters. Read the complaint here. The second lawsuit filed is backed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's National Redistricting Action Fund, the 501(c)4 of the…
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Ohio Redistricting Commission Maps Challenged in State Supreme Court as “Brazen” Partisan Gerrymander

By EditorSep 24, 2021
On Thursday, a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and the Ohio chapter of the African American trade union group the A. Philip Randolph Institute, as well as a group of individual Ohio voters, challenging the state house and senate maps adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission last week. The commission adopted the maps on a 5-2 party-line vote with Republican members voting in favor of the map. The lawsuit alleges the map is a clear partisan gerrymander that violates provisions of the state constitution requiring that districts not be…
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