NY Court Orders Redistricting Commission to Draw a “Second” Congressional Map

NY Court Orders Redistricting Commission to Draw a “Second” Congressional Map

By EditorJul 13, 2023
Today New York's Supreme Court, Appellate Division directed the state's Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) to submit a second congressional map to comply with the NY State Constitution. This decision (with 2 of 5 judges on the panel dissenting) will likely be appealed to the state's highest court. A state court has already required the IRC to draw and submit a second state house map after its initial failure to agree on any state redistricting map in January of 2022. Read the court's opinion here. From the court opinion: "The IRC had an indisputable duty under the NY Constitution to submit…
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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Exclusive Power of State Legislatures to Draw Redistricting Maps in NC Case

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Exclusive Power of State Legislatures to Draw Redistricting Maps in NC Case

By EditorJun 29, 2023
On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court held that state legislatures do not have exclusive and independent authority to set the rules regarding federal elections under the U.S. Constitution's Elections Clause. This idea had been dubbed the "independent state legislature theory." Practically speaking, this decision affirmed the North Carolina Supreme Court's authority to review the state legislature's congressional districting plans for compliance with the state constitution. You can read the opinion in Moore v. Harper here. Post Decision Analysis For a short history of the case and what it means for North Carolina and other states, listen to the CSPAN interview…
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U.S. Supreme Court Makes “Surprise” Decision Striking Alabama’s Congressional Map

By EditorJun 09, 2023
On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Alabama District Court's preliminary injunction against the state's 2021 Congressional map on grounds that it diluted the votes of Black voters in the state in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 decision ensures that Alabama's 7 district congressional map, which included only one with a majority of Black voters - will have to be redrawn to include an additional minority Black district. African Americans make up more than a quarter of the state’s population. The decision has implications for Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas as well. It is…
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Litigation Notes: Challenge to Galveston Co. TX Commissioner Court Map Survives Motion to Dismiss and will Proceed to Trial

Litigation Notes: Challenge to Galveston Co. TX Commissioner Court Map Survives Motion to Dismiss and will Proceed to Trial

By EditorApr 12, 2023
Galveston Co., Texas: The County's adopted commissioner court precinct map for the 2020 cycle, is being challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), voting rights organizations, and several individual voters. The claims in the consolidated case center around the maps' elimination of the sole remaining minority-opportunity district. The county had failed to preclear a similar map during the 2010 cycle and was subject to a preliminary injunction by a federal district court to prevent the use of that map. The current map is being challenged on several grounds including racial gerrymandering, minority vote dilution, and intentional racial discrimination under…
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Briefs Filed in Litigation to Redraw New York’s Congressional Map

Briefs Filed in Litigation to Redraw New York’s Congressional Map

By EditorApr 10, 2023
Last week, briefs were filed in a case brought by a group of voters to redraw New York's current congressional map. The state used a map drawn by a court special master to conduct the 2022 election after a map drawn by the legislature was deemed a partisan gerrymander. The New York legislature had only passed its map after a newly established independent redistricting commission (NYIRC), deadlocked on maps in January of 2022. Now the question is whether the legislature, the commission, or both can have another go at it. A trial court in September of 2022 unequivocally answered "no"…
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Litigation Update for South Carolina Redistricting (March 2023)

Litigation Update for South Carolina Redistricting (March 2023)

By EditorMar 05, 2023
Litigation began in earnest in October of 2021 as the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP anticipated the legislature's failure to draw valid lines. To compel the timely redrawing of district lines, the conference filed a lawsuit in federal district court. These lawsuits - often called "malapportionment" lawsuits - contend that a map violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the population totals of the various districts are out of proportion. However, the legislature passed the state senate and state house maps in December 2021 and the governor signed a congressional map in January 2022. The NAACP…
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WATCH: U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument in NC Congressional Map Case (Moore v. Harper)

WATCH: U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument in NC Congressional Map Case (Moore v. Harper)

By EditorDec 15, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Moore v. Harper, a case regarding North Carolina’s congressional district map. North Carolina’s 2021 congressional map was approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature and subsequently challenged as a Republican partisan gerrymander, which is prohibited in North Carolina. The state Supreme Court invalidated the map and blocked its use in the 2022 midterm elections. A new map was eventually completed by court-appointed experts and used in the elections, but Republican legislative leaders appealed to the nation’s highest court. The case hinges on the so-called "independent state legislature theory," which is the idea that…
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NY Court Gives Redistricting Commission “2nd Bite of the Apple” for Legislative Map

NY Court Gives Redistricting Commission “2nd Bite of the Apple” for Legislative Map

By EditorOct 08, 2022
Citing a flawed redistricting process, the Supreme Court of the State of New York ordered the state's Independent Redistricting Commission to try again to draw new legislative districts for the state assembly. The decision comes after the commission's failure to agree on redistricting maps earlier in the year, and a long protracted legal battle that resulted in the state's highest court invalidating the congressional, senate, and assembly maps. Read the order here. While the congressional and senate maps were redrawn by a court-appointed special master for the 2022 elections, the legislative map will not be needed until 2024. The commission…
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U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

By EditorOct 08, 2022
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan regarding Alabama Congressional Redistricting. Listen to the Oral Argument on YouTube. Last January, a three-judge district court in Alabama had agreed that the state’s new congressional map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A divided Supreme Court temporarily blocked that ruling in February and after nearly two hours of oral argument on Tuesday, the justices appeared inclined to permanently set aside the district court’s ruling according to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog. The crux of the state of Alabama's argument is that the…
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U.S. District Court Dismisses 2nd Lawsuit Calling for New House Elections

By EditorAug 23, 2022
A U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va has rejected a lawsuit aimed at dissolving Virginia's 2021 House of Delegates election. Plaintiffs in the case had urged the court to order a new election due to the delay in census data caused by the Covid-19 health crisis. The 2021 election was conducted using legislative district maps drawn after the 2010 census because updated census data from 2020 was not available to redraw maps in enough time for the scheduled statewide election. The plaintiffs sued the state election board on the basis that conducting the election using the old maps - based…
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