Court Fights Over Redistricting Draw Cries of Partisanship – By Susan Milligan (US News) / Dec 29, 2023
While past fights over gerrymandering have been largely confined to state lawmakers, now they’re drawing in the courts – leading to charges of partisan bias on the judiciary.
The battle for control of the House of Representatives and state legislatures next year may well come down not to who does the campaigning. It’s more about who’s doing the drawing.
Nearly four years after the 2020 Census and the ensuing redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts, court battles over district lines are still waging. In the case of the House, the new and still-disputed lines have an impact on as many as 13 congressional districts – more than half of the 25 seats the nonpartisan Cook Political Report considers toss-ups next year and more than double the five seats Democrats would need to flip to regain control of the chamber.
And while past fights over gerrymandered districts have been largely contained to state legislators, the current battles have drawn in the courts as well, leading to charges of partisan bias by members of the judicial branch.
In Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia, congressional and some state legislative lines are being redrawn to comply with the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits the deliberate disenfranchisement of minority voters through gerrymandering. Florida and South Carolina may also join that list, depending on the outcome of litigation.
