The US Department of Justice (DOJ) joined a lawsuit on Thursday over the redrawing of California’s congressional districts, requesting that the state be enjoined from using it in the 2026 election.

DOJ stated in the complaint:

Although the Supreme Court has allowed race-conscious redistricting to rectify prior violations of the Voting Rights Act, the Department of Justice has approved California’s pre-existing election system as recently as President Barack Obama’s term.

The 991-page lawsuit alleged that the redrawing of the House map is racial gerrymandering. DOJ stated that the map violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution because it treats people as “components of a racial…class” and not as individuals.

Additionally, the map allegedly violates the Voting Rights Act (VRA) Section 2, or 52 U.S.C. § 10301(a).  The VRA uses a totality of the circumstances test to determine if there is less opportunity for members of a protected group than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process. The VRA draws its power from the 15th Amendment, which states that voters shall not be denied the right to vote based on race.

California voters and the state’s Republican party originally filed the lawsuit on November 8, stating that the map used racial criteria without requisite necessity.

“Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Prop 50,” said Jesus A. Osete, principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the DOJ, in a press release. “Californians were sold an illegal, racially gerrymandered map, but the US Constitution prohibits its use in 2026 and beyond.”