Thread: Voter suppression in the US

The Dems are constructing laws that are unfairly beneficial to them, and that's ok?

prove it with a credible link

Are you the missing link? Prove it with your eyes, ears. It's election interference.

so you got nothing

Originally Posted by S Landreth

so you got nothing

The guy is a complete bozo. He is an anti-vax, science denying trumpanzee. They are averse to reality, much less facts.

• New York’s high court orders new congressional maps as Democrats move to retake control of the U.S. House

New York’s highest court on Tuesday ordered the state to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections, giving Democrats a potential advantage in what is expected to be a battleground for control of the U.S. House.

The 4-3 decision from the New York Court of Appeals could have major ramifications as Democrats angle for more favorable district lines in the state next year. Republicans, who won control of the House after flipping seats in New York, sought to keep the map in place.

The state’s bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission will now be tasked with coming up with new districts, which will then go before the Democrat-controlled Legislature for approval. The court ordered the commission to file a map no later than Feb. 28, 2024.

“In 2014, the voters of New York amended our Constitution to provide that legislative districts be drawn by an Independent Redistricting Commission,” Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson wrote for the majority. “The Constitution demands that process, not districts drawn by courts.”

The ruling is an early, but important, step in Democrats’ plans to retake a handful of congressional districts in New York seen as vital to winning a House majority.

“Today’s decision is a win for democracy and particularly the people of New York. We are eager for the Independent Redistricting Commission to get back to work to create a new, fair congressional map – through the process New York voters intended,” said Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Democrats sued to have last year’s maps thrown out after their party lost a handful of seats in the New York City suburbs and handed control of the House to Republicans.

The case came after Democrats in the state bungled the redistricting process for the 2022 elections, and along with what many considered political miscalculations at the top of the state ticket, drew blame for the party’s loss of the House.

The maps used last year were supposed to be drawn by a bipartisan commission that was established by voters to stop partisan gerrymandering of districts. But the commission, which is made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, failed to reach a consensus and eventually gave up.

The state Legislature then stepped in and drew its own map, which was set up in a way to give Democrats a major edge by cramming Republican voters into a few super districts, diluting GOP voting power in the rest of the state.

But a legal challenge stopped the Democrats’ map from moving forward and the Court of Appeals ruled that the state didn’t follow proper procedure in adopting the maps.

Instead, the court had an independent expert draw a new set of lines that, along with strong turnout from the GOP, led to Republicans flipping seats in the New York City suburbs and winning control of the House in 2022.

Democrats then filed their own lawsuit to stop last year’s maps from being used in 2024, with the case going all the way to New York’s highest court. They argued that the court-drawn map was never meant to be used in more than one election and that the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission should have another opportunity to draw the maps.

Republicans have argued the districts are politically balanced and should not be discarded.

Democrats have dedicated major financial and campaign resources to retake districts in New York next year. Republicans are aiming to hold onto the seats, focusing on issues such as crime and the arrival of migrants that they hope will animate suburban voters.

• Marc E. Elias - Politico offers five takeaways from today's NY redistricting decision. I'd offer a sixth: Lawyers matter.

The same legal team that won in New York, also won in Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia.

And I am very proud that they are at my firm! https://twitter.com/marceelias/statu...44978679582857

House fight could come down to New York redistricting if Democrats gerrymander

• New Louisiana congressional map boosts Black political power

Louisiana has a new congressional map, with a second majority-Black district, after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed it into law on Monday.

The new map is a win for Black voters and likely brings an end to the state's long-running legal battle over redistricting. It could also see Democrats gain another seat in Congress.

Redistricting the map was the focus of a week-long special session called by Landry on his first day in office. A federal court had given Louisiana's legislature until Jan. 30 to redraw its map in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, forcing lawmakers to add a second majority-Black district.

Louisiana's earlier map was one of several across the country that had been challenged in court for allegedly diluting Black voting power, leading to a political battle over the districts that has lasted for almost two years.

A federal judge will need to sign off on Louisiana's new map.

In an address to lawmakers at the start of the special session, Landry urged them to put an end to that battle and pass a congressional map with two majority-Black districts.

"These maps will satisfy the court and ensure that the congressional districts of our state are made right here in this legislature and not by some heavy-handed federal judge," he said.

In 2022, Louisiana lawmakers passed a map with one majority-Black district out of six, even though Black residents make up about a third of the state's population.

A group of Black voters, concerned the map did not offer Black Louisianans fair representation, challenged the map in court.

Landry, who was then Louisiana's attorney general, tried to end that litigation and preserve the 2022 map. But as governor, at the start of last week's special session, he said the state had "exhausted all legal remedies" and would need to draw a second majority-Black district.

"Once and for all, I think it's time that we put this to bed," he said.

Under the new map, Louisiana's 2nd District, which encompasses much of New Orleans and surrounding areas, will have a Black population of about 53%. Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter represents that district, which has been Louisiana's only majority-Black district for several years.

Louisiana's 6th District now stretches from parts of Shreveport to Baton Rouge and will have a Black population of about 56%. Republican Garret Graves, an ally of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, represents the 6th and risks losing his seat under the new map, which Landry supported over other versions.

______

Elias Law Group Statement on Enactment of New Congressional Map in Louisiana

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In March 2022, Elias Law Group attorneys challenged Louisiana’s congressional map on behalf of a group of voters, alleging that the map diluted the voting power of Black Louisianans in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A federal district court and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act and offered the legislature an opportunity to enact a new map to address that violation. Today, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a new map, passed by the State Legislature, with a second majority-minority congressional district.

Elias Law Group partner Abha Khanna, lead counsel for the Galmon Plaintiffs in this case, released the following statement.

"For too long, Black Louisianans have been denied fair representation in the state’s congressional delegation, forced to vote in districts that unlawfully dilute their political influence and ability to elect their candidates of choice. Today’s enactment of a new congressional map is a historic moment for Louisiana, which will now have an additional congressional district in which Black Louisianans have the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We are proud to have worked with Louisiana voters to successfully challenge Louisiana’s congressional map under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a challenge that withstood resistance from the state at nearly every turn. We are heartened that the Louisiana State Legislature finally took heed of the court’s finding that Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their Section 2 claim and sought to remedy the violation. And we are thrilled that Louisiana’s democracy will get to thrive under a new congressional map that gives every Louisianan an equal opportunity to participate in the political process.”

• “Non-African American” Voters Challenge Louisiana’s New Majority-Black Districts

Yesterday, a group of 12 voters who identify themselves as “non-African American” voters filed a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s new congressional map with two majority-Black districts.

Just two weeks ago, the state enacted a new congressional map after courts found and affirmed that the previous map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The new map increases the Black makeup of the state’s 6th Congressional District — now stretching from Caddo Parish to East Baton Rouge Parish that is currently held by U.S. Rep Garret Graves (R) — from 23% to 54%. The state’s 2nd Congressional District — represented by the state’s only Black congressional member Troy Carter (D) — also has a Black voting age population of above 50%.

In response to this new map that gives Black voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice in two congressional districts, non-Black voters — as they have self-identified — filed a new lawsuit alleging that the new map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The voters argue that the state “engaged in explicit, racial segregation of voters and intentional discrimination against voters based on race” in order to add a second majority-Black district, as required by the court.

The plaintiffs allege that the state’s new map — which was implemented to remedy a Voting Rights Act violation — violates the 14th and 15th Amendments and request that the court block the map and implement a new map for 2024 and all future elections.

Voters sue over creation of Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district

https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-c...1/22661899.pdf