A panel of federal judges in South Carolina issued an order Thursday reinstating a congressional map that was declared unconstitutional racial gerrymander in 2023 due to concerns that it would be impractical to adopt a new map so close to the 2024 election season. In their five-page opinion, the three-judge panel, all appointed by Democrat [...]
Search Results for: Redistricting
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed on Wednesday new congressional maps into law. The new legislation is set to take effect immediately. These new maps have been rather controversial since being proposed. In 2022, it was alleged that they were gerrymandered “to protect Democratic incumbents.” After Republicans filed a suit against Hochul, the New York [...]
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 94 into law on Monday, remapping legislative districts and remedying some of the most gerrymandered maps in the US. 2023 Wisconsin Act 94 focuses on legislative redistricting and enacts maps that are responsive to the will of the people, avoid partisan bias, and increase the number of [...]
Missouri Supreme Court upholds congressional maps over citizen concerns
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld a trial court decision on Wednesday finding that Missouri’s state senate congressional map did not violate the state’s constitution. Several Missouri citizens previously challenged the map, drawn by a court-appointed redistricting commission, for failing to preserve communities of interest. The court rejected the citizens’ challenge in their Wednesday decision, finding [...]
Federal judge strikes down Louisiana state electoral maps, orders districts redrawn
A federal judge in Louisiana struck down Louisiana state House and Senate districting maps Thursday for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and diluting Black voter power in the gulf state. Federal District Judge Shelly Dick ordered the the maps redrawn but did not give a quota for the number of majority [...]
The US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declined Tuesday to rehear with the full Eighth Circuit panel of judges a prior appeals court decision curtailing private organizations’ ability to sue under section two of the Voting Rights Act for alleged racial gerrymandering in redistricting decisions. In the order denying the rehearing, Judge David Stras, writing [...]
US judge orders new legislative district for Native American voters in North Dakota
US District Chief Judge Peter D. Welte ordered a new joint North Dakota legislative district for two Native American tribes on Monday. The Tribes successfully argued that a map created through redistricting in 2021 violated the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The latest ruling confirmed that the 2021 state redistricting legislation diluted their voting [...]
New Jersey governor signs bill allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Voter Empowerment Act on Thursday, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they are 18 by the succeeding general election. Under the new law, 17-year-olds can vote in the primaries if they are US citizens, reside in the district they expect to vote in and will [...]
Wisconsin Supreme Court rules state legislative maps are unconstitutional and must be redrawn
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled 4-3 that the state legislature’s assembly district maps are unconstitutional under the Wisconsin Constitution on Wednesday and ordered new remedial maps to be drawn for the 2024 elections. Justice Jill J. Karofsky authored the majority opinion of the court. Karofsky noted that Article IV Sections 4 and 5 of [...]
Indian law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting India. Samar Veer is JURIST’s Dispatches Managing Editor and a law student at National Law University, Delhi. After several decades of being a dead letter, the Parliament of India has passed a long-debated bill that reserves a specific portion of seats for [...]