Free Republic

A voting rights lawsuit that could cost Texas Democrats seats across all levels of government received a hearing Tuesday by the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, known as the most conservative federal appellate court in the country. The Galveston County redistricting case is challenging how the appellate court has previously interpreted the Voting Rights Act, which was passed to protect individual minority groups but has been “twisted” for political advantage. At issue is whether Section 2 of the law requires the county to create a majority-minority district by grouping a “coalition” of black and Hispanic voters....

A federal court ruled Thursday that Louisiana’s state House and Senate district maps dilute black voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act, and has ordered the maps to be redrawn. The ruling by U.S. District Chief Judge Shelly Dick came just weeks after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed on Jan. 22 a bill creating a new congressional map that establishes a second majority-black district. The new map reshapes Louisiana’s 6th District, that of Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), giving it a black population of around 56 percent and making it the state’s second majority-black district. In her ruling on...

A federal trial over Georgia's state legislative district maps is set to kick off next week in Atlanta. In 2021, several Georgia residents and groups, including the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, filed suit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. They argued that the state's legislative maps drafted in 2021 violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

HARRISBURG -- The May 21 primary election will go on as scheduled, a three-judge federal panel ruled this morning. The panel agreed to allow the congressional district boundaries established in January by the Legislature to be used in the May primary and not force the use of new boundaries crafted last week by order of the panel. Lawmakers had argued that would force the primary to be pushed back to June or July. "The pressure is off," said Erik Arneson, chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader David "Chip" Brightbill, R-Lebanon County. "This is good news. We're going to have...