policyindepth

Maryland Officials Announce Special Session on Redistricting in August

By EditorJul 11, 20260 Comments

On Wednesday, July 8, House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson jointly announced that the Maryland General Assembly will convene for a special session August 3rd through 5th to consider placing a constitutional amendment regarding congressional redistricting on the November ballot. This marks a significant reversal for Ferguson, who earlier this year refused to allow a Senate vote on the House-passed redistricting map that would have eliminated the state's sole Republican-held congressional seat. Ferguson said this time the approach is different: "After recent court decisions weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and created new uncertainty around congressional redistricting,…

MarylandMaryland, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

Colorado Is Out of the Redistricting Fight After Supreme Court Strikes Down All Ballot Measures

By EditorJun 30, 20260 Comments

The Colorado Supreme Court on June 29 unanimously struck down all five redistricting-related ballot initiatives that had been approved for signature gathering, ruling that each violated the state constitution's single-subject requirement. The single-subject rule, codified in Article V, Section 1(5.5) of the Colorado Constitution, provides that "no measure shall be proposed by petition containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title," and that if a measure contains more than one subject such that a ballot title cannot be fixed to clearly express a single subject, "no title shall be set and the measure shall not…

Coloradocolorado, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

Georgia Republican Leaders Say No to Redistricting. For Now

By EditorJun 25, 20260 Comments

Georgia's Republican legislative leaders rejected Gov. Brian Kemp's call to redraw the state's congressional and state legislative district maps during a special session that convened on June 17, citing pending litigation and the need for more time to evaluate the legal landscape after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. House Speaker Jon Burns sent Kemp a letter hours before the session was scheduled to begin, writing that "changes to Georgia's maps should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input, and engage in…

GeorgiaGeorgia, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

The Battle Over Colorado’s Congressional Map Will Be Decided by Voters

By EditorJun 12, 2026

Colorado's redistricting story in the post-2020 era unfolds in two distinct chapters. The first covers the state's post-census redistricting process, conducted entirely by citizen commissions established by voters in 2018, and the legal challenges that followed. The second, still unfolding, covers the state's response to the nationwide mid-decade redistricting wars launched in 2025, which have drawn Colorado into a contested ballot measure fight that will ultimately be decided by voters in November 2026. Together, the two chapters illustrate both how Colorado's independent redistricting architecture has insulated it from the partisan map-drawing that has roiled other states and the limits of…

Colorado, Strategy and Politicscolorado, policyindepth

New York Lawmakers Approve Amendment Allowing Mid-Decade Redistricting and Partisan Map-Drawing

By EditorJun 09, 2026

The New York State Legislature passed a sweeping constitutional amendment on June 3, 2026 (S.10637-A/A.11553) that would significantly restructure how the state draws congressional and state legislative district lines. The amendment passed both chambers on party-line votes, with Democrats in the majority supporting it and Republicans unanimously opposed. Introduced jointly on June 1 by the Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the amendment amends Sections 4 and 5-b of Article III of the New York State Constitution and adds a new Section 5-c. Among its most significant provisions it: explicitly permits mid-decade congressional redistricting; replaces the supermajority threshold…

New York, State Lawsmid-decade redistricting, new york, policyindepth

Louisiana Enacts New Congressional Map Into Law, Eliminating One Majority-Black District

By EditorMay 29, 2026

Louisiana legislators gave their final approval Friday to Senate Bill 121, a congressional redistricting map that eliminates one of the state's two majority-Black districts and gives Republicans a probable additional U.S. House seat ahead of the November midterms. The state Senate approved the final version 28-10 on party lines after the House had passed it 66-36 the day prior. The new map redraws Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields' 6th District, clustering it around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana, while adding part of Baton Rouge to the majority-Black 2nd District based in New Orleans, currently represented…

Enacting a Redistricting Map, Louisianalouisiana, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

Virginia’s Redistricting Ordeal: A Brief Summary

By EditorMay 26, 2026

Virginia's Post-2020 Redistricting: From Commission to Courtroom When Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2020 establishing a bipartisan redistricting commission, it was widely seen as a model reform, a deliberate step away from partisan map-drawing toward a process governed by eight lawmakers and eight citizens working together. That promise quickly ran into reality: the commission deadlocked along partisan lines and missed its November 2021 deadline without producing a congressional map. The Virginia Supreme Court stepped in, appointed two special masters, one drawn from each party's nominees, and approved the resulting congressional map on December 28, 2021. That court-drawn…

Enacting a Redistricting Map, Virginiapolicyindepth, Virginia

Utah’s Court-Ordered Redistricting: Where Things Stand

By EditorMay 22, 2026

The Utah congressional map controversy continues into 2026. On November 10, 2025, a state trial court invalidated the Utah legislature's congressional map on the grounds that it violated the anti-partisan gerrymandering rules enacted under Proposition 4, which voters approved seven years ago. The court adopted a remedial map submitted by the plaintiffs in the case (The Utah League of Women Voters and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government) to be used in the 2026 mid-term election. That map created three Republican-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning district centered on Salt Lake County. In response, the Utah Legislature launched an aggressive multi-front…

State Laws, Utahmid-decade redistricting, policyindepth, Utah

South Carolina Governor Calls Special Session on Redistricting After Senate Blocks Extension

By EditorMay 14, 2026

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called a special session Thursday evening for state lawmakers to tackle redistricting ahead of the midterm elections, announcing on X: "I have issued an Executive Order calling the General Assembly back for an extra legislative session to address the state budget and congressional districts." The session is set to begin on Friday morning. McMaster initially chose not to set a special session but changed course after the Republican-led state Senate rejected a measure to extend its current session to take up a redrawn map, despite pressure from President Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social,…

South Carolinamid-decade redistricting, policyindepth, South Carolina

Georgia Governor Calls for June Special Session for Mid-Decade Redistricting

By EditorMay 14, 2026

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has called the General Assembly into a special session beginning June 17 to consider new congressional, state Senate, and state House district maps for the 2028 election cycle, according to the governor’s May 13 proclamation. The session is being called in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which affected how race may be considered in redistricting. The proposed maps are not expected to govern this year’s midterm elections because the proclamation specifies the 2028 cycle. Kemp noted that it was too late to change the maps before the upcoming…

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