Redistricting
LWV Ohio intervened in a federal lawsuit that asked the court to impose state legislative maps that had been rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court.
ALBANY, NY - The League of Women Voters of New York State yesterday filed an amicus brief with the Appellate Division, Fourth Department in the case challenging the redistricting maps drawn by the Legislature after the Independent Redistricting Commission had failed to submit a second set of maps as required by the Constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2014.
In November of 2018, voters passed ballot initiatives in three states to curb gerrymandering by reforming the redistricting process. Four years later, as redistricting battles once again sweep the nation, it’s time to look back at what those initiatives accomplished, and what still needs to be done.
The 2021 redistricting cycle was the first one without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act. Without federal oversight, many states and local municipalities have used this advantage to implement racially gerrymandered maps, i.e. district lines that limit the voting power of voters of color.
March 26th marks the anniversary of the landmark Rucho v. League of Women Voters of North Carolina (also known as Rucho v. Common Cause) Supreme Court oral arguments. The Supreme Court's ultimate decision, that federal courts cannot make determinations on partisan gerrymandering, would have major consequences for representation across our democracy.
We spoke with Allison Riggs, who was chosen to represent the plaintiffs and argued the case before the Supreme Court. Now, Riggs, who is now co-executive director and chief counsel for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, gives us her first-hand account of what happened in the courts.
With the new year comes more litigation. In the past year, the League has continued our work of fighting against anti-voter bills and purges, challenges to new district maps, and pushing back against the increased attacks on reproductive rights. Here are a handful of the issues you may want to keep an eye on in 2022.
In the federal court challenge to an illegal redistricting plan, brought by Black voters in Baltimore County and several civil rights organizations, Federal Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby granted a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the County’s plan and ordering them to submit a new plan that complies with the Voting Rights Act by March 8.
On Sunday evening, the ACLU of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Covington & Burling LLP filed a motion to intervene as defendants in a federal lawsuit, Michael Gonidakis v Ohio Redistricting Commission. The voting rights groups request that the Court stay this case pending final resolution of the proceedings before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s 2021 state and congressional maps due to partisan gerrymandering. We spoke with the League of Women Voters of Ohio's executive director, Jen Miller, about the work Leagues are doing to ensure fair and equitable maps in Ohio.
Today the League of Women Voters of the United States CEO Virginia Kase Solomón and the League of Women Voters Alabama President Kathy Jones issued the following statements on the Supreme Court decision failing to rein in racial gerrymandering by allowing the Alabama congressional maps to stay in place.