Court: New York Will Have Congressional and Senate Maps by May 20.

Court: New York Will Have Congressional and Senate Maps by May 20.

By EditorApr 29, 2022
The litigation surrounding New York's congressional and senate maps will end by May 20, according to the Stueben County appellate court. The court's announcement comes after the state's highest court invalidated both maps on Wednesday (April 27th). Here is a recap of the litigation which began in February. The litigation surrounding these two maps began in mid-February and sped through all three levels of the state court system (trial court, appellate court, and the state's highest court) in just over 2 months. While there was some disagreement among courts regarding whether the maps enacted by the legislature were the product…
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Maryland State Court Throws Out 2021 Congressional Map Citing Extreme Gerrymandering

By EditorMar 27, 2022
On Friday, the Senior Judge of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County signed an order prohibiting use of the congressional map that the Maryland legislature approved - over a gubernatorial veto - during a special session in December 2021. State officials were given five days to redraw the map. The legislature is currently in session until April 11. There is no word on whether the state will appeal. Read the order and opinion. The ruling concerned consolidated cases against the map by several plaintiffs and is notable as it makes Maryland among the first few states to fall victim…
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U.S. Supreme Court Denies Request to Block North Carolina Court’s Congressional Map

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Request to Block North Carolina Court’s Congressional Map

By EditorMar 08, 2022
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency application for a stay of the North Carolina State supreme court's decision to invalidate the congressional map that the legislature enacted in 2021 and the state trial court's decision to block a second map enacted by the legislature on February 17. If the high court had granted an emergency stay, the upcoming 2022 elections would have been conducted under the legislature's Feb. 17 map, while the court considered the case for a decision at some later date. Read the court's order. Map and Court Decision Timeline Feb. 23 2022: A state…
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OH Supreme Court Rejects Ohio Commission Maps for a 2nd Time. Describes Their Efforts as “Misguided.”

By EditorFeb 07, 2022
The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday rejected a 2nd revised map of state Senate and House districts drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The first map was invalidated by the court on Jan 12. The latest maps, adopted by the commission on Jan. 22nd, still violate state constitutional provisions prohibiting maps that favor any one political party according to the court. The commission must adopt a 3rd plan and file it with the court by February 18, 2022. Read the order here. The court interprets the state constitution's proportionality standard to mean that any map should reflect the average voting…
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U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Alabama in Voting Rights Act Case Against its Congressional Map, Issues a Stay Order.

By EditorFeb 07, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced that it will allow Alabama to hold elections under its newly enacted congressional map despite a federal trial court's order to redraw the map to add a second majority Black district. Read the order here. In a 5-4 vote, the court granted Alabama's application for a stay from the trial court's decision invalidating the map under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The 4 Justices in the minority would have allowed the 2022 election to go forward in Alabama with a remedial map as the three-judge trial court had ordered. Justice…
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Michigan Supreme Court Upholds Maps Against Minority Vote Dilution Challenge

By EditorFeb 05, 2022
On Thursday, Feb. 3, the Michigan State Supreme Court upheld the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission's maps against a minority vote dilution challenge under Section 2 Voting Rights Act (VRA). Read the Court's opinion/order here. According to the opinion, that decision mostly hinged on the plaintiff's failure to show that any of the Gingle's preconditions were met to establish a Sec. 2 violation. In other words, the was no specific evidence offered by the plaintiffs that Black voters would not be able to elect the candidate of their choice. The crux of the plaintiff's argument, the court explained, was that…
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Idaho Supreme Court Upholds Reapportionment Commission’s State Legislative District Map

By EditorJan 28, 2022
On Thursday, Jan 27 the Idaho Supreme Court upheld the state legislative district map against four challenges. In a unanimous opinion, the court backed the Idaho Reapportionment Commission's decision to split a total of 8 counties in drawing district lines, as well as how the commission dealt with various tribal communities. Read the decision. From the Opinion In regards to equal protection: "petitioners failed to meet their burden of showing that the Commission unreasonably determined that eight county splits were necessary to afford Idaho’s citizens equal protection of the law. Therefore, they have failed to demonstrate that the Plan violates…
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Alabama Federal Court Blocks Congressional Map on Voting Rights Act Grounds. Gives Legislature 2 Week Deadline

By EditorJan 25, 2022
On Monday an Alabama Federal District Court blocked the new congressional map enacted in November of last year. The order gives the legislature 14 days to enact a new map that the court advises should include " either an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunityto elect a representative of their choice." Read the opinion here. Alabama's congressional map has had one majority-Black district since 1992 (District 7), and the map adopted in 2021 retained that district. Plaintiffs had argued that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies in this…
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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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In One-Two Punch, Ohio Supreme Court Invalidates New Congressional Map Just 2 Days After Striking House and Senate Districts

By EditorJan 15, 2022
On Friday, the Ohio State Supreme Court announced its decision to invalidate the Republican-drawn 2021 congressional map, explaining that it "stacks the deck" against the opposite party. Voters in 2018 amended the state's constitution to prohibit excessive partisan map-drawing and the court concluded that the new map was a product of just that. Read the opinion and excerpts below. The now invalidated map had failed to pass the legislature by a supermajority vote and thus under the constitution, it would have only been in effect for 4 years. With the court's ruling on Friday, the legislature will have 30 days…
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