Watch: Utah Supreme Court Oral Argument in Congressional Map Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorJul 18, 2023

The Utah Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a partisan gerrymandering challenge to the state's 2021 congressional map. The case is League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature. Watch on YouTube. For news, litigation documents, district maps, and more information about Utah Redistricting, visit the Utah Redistricting Almanac Page. The Almanac home page for all 50 states is here. Find us on:

Case Updates, LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws, VIDEOIN-DEPTH, lawindepth, litigation, partisan gerrymandering, Utah

ELB Podcast: U.S. Democracy and the Independent State Legislature Theory after Moore v. Harper

By EditorJul 05, 2023

Listen to the Election Law Blog Podcast's voting rights roundtable discussion of Moore v. Harper. Derek Muller, Carolyn Shapiro, Bertrall Ross, and Rick Pildes discuss what the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means for future elections. https://soundcloud.com/rick-hasen/elb-podcast-410?si=22034ab3b3ea4e24bb0205f33a2ffbc4&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Find us on:

Elections Clause, HOME, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, State Lawsindependent state legislature theory, lawindepth, lpscotus, North Carolina, scotus

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…

Case Updates, Casedocs, Elections Clause, LATEST, LAW, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationIN-DEPTH, independent state legislature theory, lawindepth, litigation, North Carolina, STATENEWS

How Will the Alabama SCOTUS Decision Affect Litigation in Other States?

By EditorJun 15, 2023

The Supreme Court's somewhat "unexpected" ruling on the Section 2 challenge to Alabama's congressional district map has led to questions about what effect it will have in states with ongoing Section 2 litigation. Below are some articles that ask and attempt to answer the question of how the Alabama decision will affect litigation in those states. Texas Litigation: Where Texas redistricting lawsuits stand after U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Alabama case. (Texas Tribune) Arkansas: Plaintiffs hope SCOTUS decision in Alabama case bodes well for Arkansas redistricting lawsuits. (ualrpublicradio.org/) Georgia: Redistricting: Court ruling against Alabama's racially redistricted map could affect Georgia.…

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Alaska State Supreme Court Set to Decide if Interim Legislative Map Will Remain in Effect for the Decade

By EditorApr 24, 2023

On Friday, the Alaska Supreme Court issued its opinion detailing its March 2022 ruling that Alaska's legislative (a.k.a. Proclamation) Map violated the state's equal protection clause due to partisan gerrymandering. The opinion is not a surprise since the court made this conclusion clear in a March 25 2022 order. What is newsworthy, is that the court asked the Alaska Redistricting Board to make a case for restarting the redistricting process over to establish a final map for the rest of the decade. After two failed attempts by the Redistricting Board to adopt a legislative map, a third map was used…

Casedocs, HOME, LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, State LawsAlaska, lawindepth, STATENEWS

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…

Case Updates, Partisan Gerrymandering, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigationlawindepth, Texas

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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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…

Case Updates, Elections Clause, LAW, Redistricting Litigationlawindepth, North Carolina

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…

Case Updates, HOME, LATEST, LAW, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, VIDEO, Voting Rights ActAlabama, lawindepth, lpvra, national, scotus

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…

Case Updates, Casedocs, Redistricting Litigationlawindepth, STATENEWS, Virginia