South Carolina sued over newly drawn state House districts
2 years, 11 months ago

South Carolina sued over newly drawn state House districts

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two civil rights groups are suing South Carolina, saying the newly drawn state House maps discriminate against Black people by diluting their voting power and again saying lawmakers are taking too long to approve U.S. House maps. The groups said they reserve their right to sue later over the 46 South Carolina Senate districts, which don’t come up for election until 2024. The lawsuit also cites districts in Sumter where it said Black voters were shunted out of Republican Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith’s district, as well as areas in Richland County; Orangeburg County; Florence and Williamsburg counties; and in Dillion and Horry counties. The House maps also were roundly criticized by groups like the South Carolina League of Women Voters, which said the number of general election races where the winning margin is projected to be within 5 percentage points was cut in half to just eight seats — or only 6% of the House.

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History of this topic

Voting group asks S. Carolina court to order redraw of US House districts that lean too Republican
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Voting group asks S. Carolina court to order redraw of US House districts that lean too Republican

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A group that works to protect and expand voting rights is asking South Carolina’s highest court to order lawmakers to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts because they lean too far Republican. South Carolina’s congressional map was upheld two months ago in a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the state General Assembly did not use …

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys
5 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi must move quickly on a court-ordered redistricting, say voting rights attorneys

Associated Press  

— Mississippi should work quickly to fulfill the court-ordered redrawing of some legislative districts to ensure more equitable representation for Black residents, attorneys for voting rights groups said in a new court filing Friday. The attorneys also said it’s important to hold special elections in the reconfigured state House and Senate districts on Nov. 5 — the same day as …

Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts
5 months, 1 week ago

Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts

Associated Press  

— Redrawing some Mississippi legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots, state officials say in new court papers. Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday in response to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi House and Senate to reconfigure …

Groups claim South Florida districts are racially gerrymandered for Hispanics in lawsuit
6 months, 4 weeks ago

Groups claim South Florida districts are racially gerrymandered for Hispanics in lawsuit

Associated Press  

MIAMI — Progressive civic groups have challenged how four congressional districts and seven state House districts in South Florida were drawn by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, claiming they were racially gerrymandered for Hispanics who are too diverse in Florida to be considered a protected minority. “Rather, it is nuanced, multifaceted, and diverse with respect to political behavior and preferences,” the …

Supreme Court OKs shift of Black voters to shore up GOP congressional district
7 months ago

Supreme Court OKs shift of Black voters to shore up GOP congressional district

LA Times  

At issue in the South Carolina case was a congressional district in the Charleston area held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a state’s mapmakers may shift tens of thousands of Black voters to a different district if they were seeking to shore up a partisan advantage for a Republican candidate. In a 6-3 decision, …

South Carolina to hold 2024 congressional elections with map previously ruled unconstitutional
8 months, 3 weeks ago

South Carolina to hold 2024 congressional elections with map previously ruled unconstitutional

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal court on Thursday ruled that this year’s congressional elections in South Carolina will be held under a map that it had already deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters, with time running out ahead of voting deadlines and a lack of a decision on the case by the Supreme Court. After South Carolina’s Legislature, which …

Attorneys argue over whether Mississippi legislative maps dilute Black voting power
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Attorneys argue over whether Mississippi legislative maps dilute Black voting power

Hindustan Times  

— Mississippi legislators diluted the power of Black voters by drawing too few majority-Black state House and Senate districts after the most recent Census, an attorney representing the NAACP and several residents told three federal judges Monday. HT Image But during opening arguments in a trial of the redistricting case, an attorney representing state officials told the judges that race …

Attorneys argue over whether Mississippi legislative maps dilute Black voting power
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Attorneys argue over whether Mississippi legislative maps dilute Black voting power

Associated Press  

— Mississippi legislators diluted the power of Black voters by drawing too few majority-Black state House and Senate districts after the most recent Census, an attorney representing the NAACP and several residents told three federal judges Monday. But during opening arguments in a trial of the redistricting case, an attorney representing state officials told the judges that race was not …

Judge: Louisiana legislative districts dilute Black voting strength, violate the Voting Rights Act
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Judge: Louisiana legislative districts dilute Black voting strength, violate the Voting Rights Act

Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS — New state House and Senate boundary lines drawn up by the Louisiana Legislature in 2022 dilute Black voting strength in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, a federal judge in Baton Rouge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s ruling blocked the use of the House and Senate district maps in future elections and gave the …

A lawsuit seeks to block Louisiana’s new congressional map that has 2nd mostly Black district
10 months, 3 weeks ago

A lawsuit seeks to block Louisiana’s new congressional map that has 2nd mostly Black district

Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Legislature’s redrawn congressional map giving the state a second mostly Black district is being challenged by 12 self-described “non-African American” voters in a new lawsuit. The challenge filed Wednesday and assigned to a judge in Lafayette says the map, which Republican lawmakers agreed to as a result of a 2022 federal lawsuit filed in Baton …

New North Carolina state Senate districts remain in place as judge refuses to block their use
10 months, 3 weeks ago

New North Carolina state Senate districts remain in place as judge refuses to block their use

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — A judge refused Friday to prevent the use of two North Carolina Senate districts drawn by Republican legislators starting with the 2024 elections and to order them replaced with boundaries that lawsuit plaintiffs argue would more likely ensure Black voters can elect a preferred candidate in one of them. U.S. District Judge James Dever denied a preliminary …

THINGS TO KNOW: Deadline looms for new map in embattled North Dakota redistricting lawsuit
1 year ago

THINGS TO KNOW: Deadline looms for new map in embattled North Dakota redistricting lawsuit

Associated Press  

BISMARCK, N.D. — The clock is running out on a Friday deadline for North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature to draw new legislative boundaries compliant with the Voting Rights Act for two Native American tribes who successfully sued for new lines. A federal judge last month ruled that the state’s 2021 redistricting map violates the landmark 1965 civil rights law in diluting …

North Carolina’s election maps for 2024 are racially biased, advocates say in lawsuit
1 year ago

North Carolina’s election maps for 2024 are racially biased, advocates say in lawsuit

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn all of the redistricting plans drawn by Republicans and being used starting with the 2024 elections, saying legislative leaders unlawfully weakened the electoral influence of Black voters. “The General Assembly targeted predominantly Black voting precincts with surgical precision throughout the state in drawing and enacting the 2023 Plans, at …

New North Carolina congressional districts challenged in federal court on racial bias claims
1 year ago

New North Carolina congressional districts challenged in federal court on racial bias claims

Associated Press  

N.C. — North Carolina Black and Latino voters sued in federal court on Monday seeking to strike down congressional districts drawn this fall by Republican state legislators that they argue weaken minority voting power in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in central North Carolina challenges four districts where the plaintiffs contend GOP leaders …

Black voters file federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina Senate map
1 year, 1 month ago

Black voters file federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina Senate map

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — A lawsuit filed Monday in North Carolina alleges newly adopted district boundaries for the state Senate divide a cluster of predominantly Black counties in the northeast corner of the state in a way that unfairly dilutes the voting power of Black residents. Plaintiffs Rodney Pierce, a social studies teacher from Halifax County, and Moses Matthews, a retired …

The Supreme Court on voting rights and gerrymanders: if you draw racist maps make sure you call them partisan.
1 year, 2 months ago

The Supreme Court on voting rights and gerrymanders: if you draw racist maps make sure you call them partisan.

Slate  

In this week’s big voting rights case, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning whether to uphold a South Carolina congressional map that is avowedly partisan. In arguments on Wednesday, it became clear that the high court’s conservatives would rather toss out the evidence the lower court used to reach its decision, …

Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new US House districts chosen by federal judges
1 year, 2 months ago

Black voting power gets boost in Alabama as new US House districts chosen by federal judges

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Federal judges on Thursday selected new congressional lines for Alabama to give the Deep South state a second district where Black voters comprise a substantial portion of the electorate. The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the three-judge panel’s finding that Alabama’s prior map — with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is …

Lawsuit says Tennessee’s US House and state Senate maps discriminate against communities of color
1 year, 4 months ago

Lawsuit says Tennessee’s US House and state Senate maps discriminate against communities of color

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is facing its first court challenge over a congressional redistricting map that carved up Democratic-leaning Nashville to help Republicans flip a seat in last year’s elections, a move that the plaintiffs say has unconstitutionally diluted the power of Black voters and other communities of color. By splintering Nashville into three Republican-majority districts that stretch into rural …

Alabama GOP accused of ripping off Black voters with new congressional map
1 year, 5 months ago

Alabama GOP accused of ripping off Black voters with new congressional map

Raw Story  

Republicans in Alabama have passed a new congressional map that is reportedly being criticized for defying U.S. Supreme Court precedent created to protect minority voters. "Civil rights groups have already vowed to challenge the new map in court, a month after the Supreme Court ruled that the state's previous district lines marginalized the state's sizable Black population in violation of …

New voting districts could change again in some states before the 2024 elections
1 year, 6 months ago

New voting districts could change again in some states before the 2024 elections

Associated Press  

The 2022 elections marked the first using new voting districts drawn from updated census data. RACE IN REDISTRICTING The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that Alabama’s congressional districts likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. It ordered a lower court to impose new U.S. House and state …

Supreme Court to review South Carolina congressional map for discrimination against Black voters
1 year, 7 months ago

Supreme Court to review South Carolina congressional map for discrimination against Black voters

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether South Carolina’s congressional districts need to be redrawn because they discriminate against Black voters. The justices said Monday they would review a lower-court ruling that found a coastal district running from Charleston to Hilton Head was intentionally redrawn to reduce the number of Democratic-leaning Black voters and to make it …

SC Republicans to appeal redistricting case to Supreme Court
1 year, 10 months ago

SC Republicans to appeal redistricting case to Supreme Court

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal appeals court has denied South Carolina Republicans’ motion for a stay in the ongoing challenge over the state’s congressional district map. If the Supreme Court takes the case and affirms the federal panel’s ruling, the state’s coastal 1st District will not be redrawn until 30 days after the high court’s final decision. After the new …

South Carolina US House district ruled racial gerrymander
1 year, 11 months ago

South Carolina US House district ruled racial gerrymander

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Federal judges ordered South Carolina lawmakers to draw new congressional maps, ruling Friday that the U.S. House district lines of a seat flipped by Democrats four years ago were intentionally redrawn to split Black neighborhoods to dilute their voting power. Friday’s ruling said the coastal 1st District running from Charleston to Hilton Head Island was drawn to …

N. Carolina justices: State Senate map must be drawn again
2 years ago

N. Carolina justices: State Senate map must be drawn again

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that state Senate boundaries drawn by Republican legislators — under which the court permitted this year’s elections to be conducted — remain tainted by partisan bias favoring the GOP and must be redrawn. Through Hudson’s opinion, the court also rejected Republican leaders’ wishes to have struck down the congressional redistricting …

S. Carolina’s US House maps under scrutiny because of race
2 years ago

S. Carolina’s US House maps under scrutiny because of race

Associated Press  

A trial to determine whether South Carolina’s congressional maps are legal closes Tuesday with arguments over whether the state Legislature diluted Black voting power by remaking the boundaries of the only U.S. House district Democrats have flipped in more than 30 years. The civil rights group has asserted during months of arguments that the General Assembly’s actions not only diluted …

New congressional maps dilute Black power, critics say
2 years, 3 months ago

New congressional maps dilute Black power, critics say

Associated Press  

— When Press Robinson registered to vote in South Carolina in 1963, he was handed a copy of the U.S. Constitution and told to read it aloud and interpret it. In Alabama, GOP lawmakers packed most Black voters into only one of seven congressional districts, even though Blacks make up 27% of the state’s population. In Louisiana, where nearly one-third …

New congressional maps dilute Black power in South, critics say
2 years, 3 months ago

New congressional maps dilute Black power in South, critics say

LA Times  

Press Robinson, 85, at home in Baton Rouge, La. In Alabama, GOP lawmakers packed most Black voters into only one of seven congressional districts, even though 27% of the state’s population is Black. In Louisiana, where nearly one-third of the state’s population is Black, GOP lawmakers approved a map containing five majority-white districts, all of which favor Republican incumbents. “It’s …

Louisiana legislative districts challenged by Black voters
2 years, 9 months ago

Louisiana legislative districts challenged by Black voters

Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS — New district maps for the Louisiana House and Senate illegally dilute Black voting strength, a lawsuit alleges. The suit, filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, says the new maps “embody Louisiana’s legacy of discrimination.” It asks that the new legislative districts be declared unconstitutional and that election officials be blocked from holding elections …

Suit: South Carolina GOP chose ‘worst’ map for Black voters
2 years, 10 months ago

Suit: South Carolina GOP chose ‘worst’ map for Black voters

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Civil rights groups have added several congressional districts to a lawsuit over “racially gerrymandered” redistricting maps, accusing South Carolina Republican lawmakers in an amended lawsuit filed Thursday of unconstitutionally redrawing lines so as to disadvantage Black voters. New maps for areas including the 1st, 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts are based on state bills that “represent the …

North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down redistricting maps
2 years, 10 months ago

North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down redistricting maps

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — A divided North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the state’s new maps for congressional and General Assembly seats Friday, declaring that state courts had authority to throw out lines engineered to secure a long-term Republican advantage in an otherwise closely divided state. The court’s decision reversed a ruling last month from a panel of three trial judges …

New US House maps in South Carolina heading to governor
2 years, 10 months ago

New US House maps in South Carolina heading to governor

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new map for South Carolina’s U.S. House seats is on its way to the governor after the state House approved the plan Wednesday without any additional debate. The basic templates for South Carolina’s congressional districts were drawn after the 1990 U.S. Census when the state created a district with a majority of minority voters and also …

SC Senate passes new US House districts with minimal changes
2 years, 11 months ago

SC Senate passes new US House districts with minimal changes

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Senate approved a new map for the state’s U.S. House seats on Thursday, making minimal changes to the current seven districts of which all but one reliably elect Republicans. The vote likely shut the door on any significant changes to the districts, which Democrats and civic groups say unfairly amplifies Republican power and pulls …

Plan to radically change US House districts in SC proposed
2 years, 11 months ago

Plan to radically change US House districts in SC proposed

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Just days before the South Carolina General Assembly appears ready to finish drawing new U.S. House districts, state Senators have been asked to consider an alternative that would make radical changes favorable to Democrats in the state’s seven congressional districts. He said his version is fair, equitable and creates districts that give more voters a chance to …

New lawsuit challenges 3 Georgia congressional district maps
2 years, 11 months ago

New lawsuit challenges 3 Georgia congressional district maps

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Voting rights groups and individual voters on Friday filed a federal lawsuit that says the new map for three Georgia congressional districts violate the Constitution and weaken the power of voters of color. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Georgia and individual voters. The lawsuit …

South Carolina Republicans want judge off redistricting case
2 years, 11 months ago

South Carolina Republicans want judge off redistricting case

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Republican legislative leaders want to toss a judge from a lawsuit over redistricting plans, arguing in papers filed Thursday that the jurist can’t fairly consider the case in part because of prior legal work on such cases. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel was lead counsel on …

Kemp signs into law Georgia district maps, 3 lawsuits follow
2 years, 11 months ago

Kemp signs into law Georgia district maps, 3 lawsuits follow

Associated Press  

Brian Kemp on Thursday signed new maps for Georgia’s congressional delegation, state Senate and state House into law, resulting in three immediate lawsuits challenging the maps, even as candidates gear up to run under the new lines. The new districts are designed to increase the number of Republicans in Georgia’s 14-member congressional delegation from eight to nine, turning the suburban …

House committee meets on congressional redistricting maps
3 years ago

House committee meets on congressional redistricting maps

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — New maps for U.S. House seats released by a South Carolina House committee differ significantly from boundaries drawn up by the Senate, as the two chambers try to carve out seven congressional districts that reflect the state’s rapid growth in the past decade. South Carolina’s new maps must account for the 500,000 new people the state added …

State House, Senate districts OK’d in South Carolina
3 years ago

State House, Senate districts OK’d in South Carolina

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina state senators approved new districts for the Senate and House Tuesday, but legal challenges are almost certain before filing begins in March for the 2022 elections. The new House map cuts the number of general election races where the winning margin is projected to be within 5 percentage points almost in half to just nine …

S. Carolina House overwhelmingly approves new district maps
3 years ago

S. Carolina House overwhelmingly approves new district maps

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina House overwhelmingly approved its new districts Thursday that appear to maintain Republican dominance in the chamber and protect many, but not all, incumbents. The new district maps drawn by the General Assembly do face one less hurdle than redistricting efforts over the past several decades as the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 threw out …

NC math experts, voters sue over US House, legislative lines
3 years, 1 month ago

NC math experts, voters sue over US House, legislative lines

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — Another lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s latest round of redistricting has been filed, this time by a conservation group, university mathematicians and voters who accuse Republican mapmakers of illegal partisan and racial gerrymandering. Rather, they “support fair maps drawn with advanced science and technology that preserve every North Carolinian’s right to vote in free elections on equal terms …

South Carolina redistricting maps clear House committee
3 years, 1 month ago

South Carolina redistricting maps clear House committee

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina House committee on Tuesday approved a proposed map to shape the state’s House districts for the next decade. Committee members made a handful of tweaks to some of the proposed districts Tuesday to help keep some communities and precincts intact, saying those changes wouldn’t drastically affect the map. An analysis of the proposed House …

North Carolina sued over newly passed maps favoring GOP
3 years, 1 month ago

North Carolina sued over newly passed maps favoring GOP

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — Barely 24 hours after their passage, North Carolina’s newly drawn maps are facing another legal complaint that will likely determine how much Republicans can expand their political clout over the coming decade in a state that is slowly becoming more blue. During a virtual event on Twitter, Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, called North Carolina’s maps “a …

NC redistricting suit challenges lack of race data for maps
3 years, 1 month ago

NC redistricting suit challenges lack of race data for maps

Associated Press  

RALEIGH, N.C. — Advocacy groups and voters sued on Friday to block the North Carolina General Assembly’s timetable to pass new boundaries for legislative seats next week, saying Republicans are breaking rules designed to ensure Black voters can elect their favored candidates. The North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause and four individuals filed a lawsuit i n Wake County court challenging …

Voting rights advocates sue Texas again over GOP-drawn maps
3 years, 1 month ago

Voting rights advocates sue Texas again over GOP-drawn maps

Associated Press  

AUSTIN, Texas — Voting rights advocates are suing Texas again, this time with support from a former U.S. attorney general, over the state’s newly redrawn congressional district maps that favor the GOP, claiming the maps dilute the vote of communities of color after growth in America’s largest red state was overwhelmingly Hispanic, Black and Asian American people. The latest lawsuit …

Texas lawmakers pass new congressional maps bolstering GOP
3 years, 2 months ago

Texas lawmakers pass new congressional maps bolstering GOP

Associated Press  

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republicans approved redrawn U.S. House maps that favor incumbents and decrease political representation for growing minority communities, even as Latinos drive much of the growth in the nation’s largest red state. They also denounced the reduction of minority opportunity districts -- Texas will now have seven House districts where Latino residents hold a majority, down from …

Texas lawmakers pass new congressional maps bolstering GOP
3 years, 2 months ago

Texas lawmakers pass new congressional maps bolstering GOP

Associated Press  

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republicans approved on Monday redrawn U.S. House maps that favor incumbents and decrease political representation for growing minority communities, even as Latinos drive much of the growth in the nation’s largest red state. They also denounced the reduction of minority opportunity districts -- Texas will now have seven House districts where Latino residents hold a majority, …

Lawsuit says South Carolina redistricting is taking too long
3 years, 2 months ago

Lawsuit says South Carolina redistricting is taking too long

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two civil rights groups are suing South Carolina, saying state lawmakers are taking too long to draw new maps for U.S. and state House districts. South Carolina Senate President Harvey Peeler called for an Oct. 12 special session last month, but canceled it about a week later saying a committee working on the districts wouldn’t be finished …

SC House wraps up redistricting hearings; maps up next
3 years, 2 months ago

SC House wraps up redistricting hearings; maps up next

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A special South Carolina House committee considering drawing new districts based on the 2020 U.S. Census is holding its final meeting to gather public comment this week. Attention will now turn toward finishing the new maps of U.S. House and state Senate and House districts that must be approved by the General Assembly and will likely also …

Lawsuit: Alabama congressional map ‘racially gerrymandered’
3 years, 2 months ago

Lawsuit: Alabama congressional map ‘racially gerrymandered’

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A lawsuit filed Tuesday as lawmakers get set to draw Alabama’s new congressional map is challenging the state’s current congressional districts, saying they are “racially gerrymandered” and limit Black voters’ influence in all but one congressional district. The lawsuit argues Alabama should have a congressional map that would “afford African Americans an opportunity to elect candidates of …

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