Evenwel

Gerrymandering Explained by MTV

By EditorMay 12, 2016

How does MTV explain gerrymandering to its core audience? With Oreo cookies of course. Other snacks are used to portray how students in a class my divided based on their common snack interests. The analogy leaves out crucial one-person one-vote issues, but provides a quick visual into the electoral map-drawing process. Despite the shaky electoral analogies, the article discusses fairness issues in map-drawing and the role of commissions and ballot initiatives. Interestingly, the article reports on an initiative in North Carolina to demonstrate "good-government" redistricting via a panel of retired judges who will redraw the states' electoral map. This mock commission is…

Redistricting, Redistricting GerrymandersEvenwel, gerrymandering, MTV, North Carolina, Supreme Court

Evenwel SCOTUS Decision News and Analysis Round Up

By EditorApr 05, 2016

The first round of media, academia and policy wonks have weighed in on the somewhat surprising unanimous decision by the Supreme Court this week in the much anticipated equal population case Evenwel v. Abbott. Here is the News Analysis Round-up: How A Challenge to Legislative Redistricting Backfired. The Atlantic CVAP (Citizens of Voting Age Population) Lives to Fight Another Day. Forbes The Supreme Court upheld ‘one person, one vote.’ But don’t expect the battle over counting Americans to end. Wash. Post Analysis: In Texas Case, Supreme Court Rules Nonvoters are People, Too. Texas Tribune District Fight May…

RedistrictingEvenwel, Supreme Court, Texas, washington dc

Supreme Court Decides “Evenwel” Equal Population Case: Read the Opinion

By EditorApr 04, 2016

Wash. DC - The Supreme Court just released its opinion in Evenwel v. Abott, a challenge to redistricting based on "total population" versus eligible or registered voters. Read the pre-decision discussion here. Redistricting expert Nathaniel Persily's brief is here. Listen to the Supreme Court oral argument here. The court flatly ruled against requiring redrawn districts to equalize voting eligible populations and noted the founding fathers acceptance of "total population" as an appropriate denominator. In the words of the Court: "Settled practice confirms what constitutional history and prior decisions strongly suggest. Adopting voter-eligible apportionment asconstitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach todistricting…

Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, Supreme Court

Evenwel May Just Be an Awful Can of Worms

By EditorJan 30, 2016

Victoria Bassetti, writing for Brennan Center in this article titled "Supreme Court Redistricting Case Is New Front in Voting Wars," speaks eloquently about the dangerous thinking behind the Evenwel case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. If the powers that be actually have a choice on what population base to use when redistricting, won't politics come in to play? Read the article here.

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, one person one vote, Supreme Court

Supreme Ct Preview: Persily Amicus Brief on the One Person One Vote Requirement

By EditorNov 13, 2015

In this latest Supreme Court case Evenwel v. Abbott, exploring the claim that political redistricting should focus on balancing the number of eligible voters in the population across districts as opposed to total population, several amicus briefs have been submitted by interested parties. None other than Nathaniel Persily; Stanford Law professor and a sought after expert on redistricting has submitted this brief along with several other equally accomplished colleagues in the voting/redistricting field: Bernard Grofman, Stephen Ansolabehere, Charles Stewart III, and Bruce Cain. Oral argument is scheduled for December 8th. (more…)

Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigationamicus brief, Ansolabehere, Evenwel, Grofman, lawid, one person one vote, Persily, Supreme Court

Redistricting Population Controversy: Pits Rural Against Urban

By EditorNov 12, 2015

Vice President of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Nina Perales writes this article in the Washington Post's "In Theory" series urging the Supreme Court to maintain total population as an acceptable standard for drawing political districts. (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, one person one vote, Supreme Court

Redistricting Population Controversy: A Demographer’s View

By EditorNov 03, 2015

Demographer and redistricting consultant Peter A. Morrison writes this article in the Washington Post's "In Theory" segment urging the Supreme Court to require political districts be drawn so that "eligible voters" are equally distributed across them as opposed to the general population. (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, one person one vote, Supreme Court

One Person?/Voter?/Citizen? One Vote

By EditorOct 06, 2015

Does the constitution guarantee every person the right to an equally weighted vote? or just to eligible voters? or perhaps just citizens? (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, lawid, Supreme Court, Texas

Do Ineligible Voters Infringe on Eligible Voter’s Rights?

By EditorMar 11, 2015

The Supreme Court will decide soon whether to take the case of a Texas voter who claims that her vote has been unconstitutionally diluted because her rural district has substantially more voters compared to other, urban districts comprised of many noncitizen, ineligible voters. The claim is that this makes her vote less influential than her counterparts in urban districts. The practical question in this case is whether line-drawers should be using 'total population' or "citizen voting age population' as the measure for drawing equally populated election districts. This Cato Institute article explains the case; Evenwel v. Abbott in more detail.

RedistrictingAbbott, cvap, Evenwel, Texas