Texas Legislature Releases its First Congressional Map in Special Session

Texas Legislature Releases its First Congressional Map in Special Session

By EditorJul 30, 2025
Republican leaders in the Texas House have unveiled a draft congressional map for the ongoing special redistricting session, explicitly aiming to deliver up to five additional GOP seats, an outcome President Trump has publicly encouraged. Gov. Greg Abbott placed redistricting on the session’s agenda after Trump’s Department of Justice warned that portions of the current map may be unconstitutional. Still, House Republicans have acknowledged that partisan advantage is a central motive of this mid-decade redraw. The draft is still subject to amendment during the special session, and it is unclear whether additional versions will emerge. The aggressive move in Texas…
Strategy and Politics, , ,
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U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Decision on Private Voting Rights Act Lawsuits

U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Decision on Private Voting Rights Act Lawsuits

By EditorJul 26, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a significant, albeit temporary, reprieve for voting rights advocates and individual litigants, putting on hold a controversial ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit holding that private plaintiffs cannot bring claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), a ruling that could severely limit the ability of individual voters and advocacy groups to sue under the Act. This specific case originated from a challenge to North Dakota's 2021 state legislative map, which the plaintiffs, two Native American tribes and individual voters, argued diluted Native American voting power by…
Voting Rights Act, , , ,
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Proposed Census Changes Would Shift How Non-Citizens Are Counted for Apportionment

Proposed Census Changes Would Shift How Non-Citizens Are Counted for Apportionment

By EditorJul 18, 2025
NPR reports that Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are once again trying to whittle down who “counts” when House seats and Electoral College votes are allocated. Three GOP bills introduced this year would direct the 2030 census to identify non-citizens and then subtract some, or all, of them from the population totals used for apportionment. The newest measure, advanced this week by a House Appropriations subcommittee on a 9-6 party-line vote, would bar the Census Bureau from including undocumented residents. Companion bills from Sen. Bill Hagerty and Rep. Chuck Edwards go further, targeting every non-citizen, including those with green cards…
Census Law, , ,
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New Wisconsin Lawsuit Against Congressional Map Features “Anti-Competitive” Claims

New Wisconsin Lawsuit Against Congressional Map Features “Anti-Competitive” Claims

By EditorJul 14, 2025
A bipartisan coalition of business leaders operating as the "Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy" filed a lawsuit in the Dane County Circuit Court last Thursday that brands the state’s eight-seat congressional map a “textbook example of an anti-competitive gerrymander.” Represented by Law Forward, Stafford Rosenbaum, and Harvard’s Election Law Clinic, the plaintiffs argue the current lines, drawn in 2022 under a conservative “least-changes” directive and adopted by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, suppress electoral competition in violation of several Wisconsin constitutional guarantees. The case arrives only weeks after the Wisconsin Supreme Court (now under a liberal majority) refused to hear two…
State Laws, Wisconsin,
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Mississippi Redistricting Litigation Update: State Officials File Appeal in Legislative Map Case

Mississippi Redistricting Litigation Update: State Officials File Appeal in Legislative Map Case

By EditorJul 13, 2025
Both the State defendants and the Mississippi Republican Executive Committee filed direct appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court on July 3, 2025, after a federal district court invalidated the State's House and Senate maps on Voting Rights Act grounds. The case is Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP v. State Board of Election Commissioners. The NAACP suit against Mississippi’s 2022 state legislative maps began with a complaint in December 2022 alleging racial gerrymandering and Voting Rights Act violations. A three-judge federal panel denied the State’s motion to dismiss in April 2023, oversaw discovery through that autumn, and held a bench…
Mississippi, Voting Rights Act, ,
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NAACP Withdraws Voting Rights Lawsuit as Fayette County, TN Adopts New District Map

NAACP Withdraws Voting Rights Lawsuit as Fayette County, TN Adopts New District Map

By EditorJul 11, 2025
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) has voluntarily dismissed its voting discrimination lawsuit against Fayette County, Tennessee, following the county commission's unanimous approval of a revised redistricting plan. The lawsuit, filed in February 2025, accused the county of intentionally diluting the voting power of Black residents through its 2021 district map, which included no majority-Black districts despite the county's population being over 25% Black. Faced with lawsuits from both the LDF and the U.S. Department of Justice, Fayette County officials swiftly responded by drafting a new districting plan. This revised map, approved unanimously by commissioners in June 2025, establishes three…
Tennessee, Voting Rights Act, ,
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Eighth Circuit Leaves North Dakota Tribes and Section 2 enforcement, waiting on the Supreme Court

Eighth Circuit Leaves North Dakota Tribes and Section 2 enforcement, waiting on the Supreme Court

By EditorJul 08, 2025
This week, a divided Eighth Circuit has refused to rehear Spirit Lake Tribe v. Howe, leaving intact its May 2025 ruling that bars private plaintiffs from suing under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The order preserves a decision that eliminated a key enforcement pathway for the seven states within the circuit and sets the stage for potential U.S. Supreme Court involvement. The case began when the Spirit Lake Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians challenged North Dakota’s 2021 legislative map, arguing that splitting their reservations diluted Native voting power. A U.S. District Court Judge…
Case Updates, Voting Rights Act,
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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…
Voting Rights Act, ,
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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…
Louisiana, Voting Rights Act, , ,
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U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument : Louisiana v. Callais (Congressional Map)

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.…
VIDEO, Voting Rights Act, , , ,
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