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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Wisconsin Lawsuit is Third Court Challenge Anticipating a Political “Impasse” for Redistricting Maps

By EditorAug 14, 2021
Wisconsin voters join voters in Pennsylvania and Minnesota by initiating litigation in anticipation of a political impasse between the legislative and executive branches in the map-redrawing process. A group of voters filed suit on Friday - less than one day after 2020 census numbers were released to kick off the nationwide redistricting process. Claiming that there is "no reasonable prospect that Wisconsin's political branches will reach consensus to enact district plans in a timely manner," the plaintiffs are asking a federal district court to intervene to establish redrawn congressional and state legislative districts. The complaint points out that "In the…
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Parties Debate Timeliness of Lawsuit in PA Congressional Map Challenge

By EditorAug 08, 2021
A group of voters in Pennsylvania started the 2020 litigation cycle early by suing in Pennsylvania state court over the state's congressional map. The lawsuit presumes that the state legislature will not have enough time to enact a congressional map given its history of gridlock and a severely shortened mapmaking schedule due to late census redistricting data. It is asking the court to take jurisdiction now to avoid delays in redrawing congressional districts. The case is Carter v. Degraffenreid. Read the complaint here. The lawsuit was filed in April of 2021. This is an update on the status of the…
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BASICS: Defining Equal Population in Redistricting

BASICS: Defining Equal Population in Redistricting

By EditorFeb 27, 2021
Redistricting is the process of redrawing election boundaries to equalize population, but you might ask; what population? and whether states and local jurisdictions have a choice in the matter. The short answer is that up to this point the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions use “total population” to measure equality among districts. The Supreme Court has acknowledged that states can use various population bases (provided they do not discriminate), but it has so far refused to mandate any specific method in particular. Here are the various potential measures of equal population: Total Population: This is the standard method because it is…
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Analysis: Do Redistricting Maps with Deviations Under 10% Violate the Equal Population Rule? Sometimes.

Analysis: Do Redistricting Maps with Deviations Under 10% Violate the Equal Population Rule? Sometimes.

By EditorOct 23, 2020
Most legal challenges to redistricting maps based on population deviation center around deviations that are too large. However, there are a handful of cases in which a court has found a map with minimal deviations (under 10%) to be unconstitutional. What is minimal? The equal population or “one-person, one-vote standard requires general population equality between districts, but there is no precise number or percentage that defines constitutionality. Instead, the Supreme Court interprets this constitutional requirement for congressional districts to mean “strict equality,” and for legislative and other local maps, districts need only to be “substantially equal.” In practice, a clear…
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Prison Gerrymandering Decision Halted in Rhode Island

Prison Gerrymandering Decision Halted in Rhode Island

By EditorJun 19, 2016
Cranston, Rhode Island – A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a lower court decision and order to redraw the city’s legislative boundaries pending an appellate hearing. A U.S. District Court had found that the Cranston city ward map violated the equal population mandate required under the U.S. Constitution by including the local (nonvoting) prison population in one of the wards. Thus, an initial “win” for prison gerrymandering advocates has been put on hold. A state chapter of the ACLU initiated the original lawsuit on behalf of 4 Cranston residents. The lower court judge had ordered the City redraw its…
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