Redistricting

November 18, 2019 - 2:03 pm

Democrats’ Southern victories could affect redistricting

Election results this month in three Southern states could give Democrats a greater say in redistricting for U.S. House and state legislative seats after the 2020 census. The victory this past weekend by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in Louisiana and Republicans’ inability to win a veto-proof...
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FILE - In this Monday, July 15, 2019 file photo, a state districts map is shown as a three-judge panel of the Wake County Superior Court presides over the trial of Common Cause, et al. v. Lewis, et al, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina has often been cited as an example of political gerrymandering. Now court rulings against its legislative and congressional districts also could become an example for other states. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
November 02, 2019 - 3:05 pm

North Carolina redistricting cases could offer map to others

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When the U.S. Supreme Court this year declared federal judges had no business deciding cases about political gerrymandering, it also said state courts had every right to address the issue — and have they ever in North Carolina. Within four months, state judges hearing two...
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FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, file photo, Republican state Sens. Dan Soucek, left, and Brent Jackson review historical maps during The Senate Redistricting Committee for the 2016 Extra Session in the Legislative Office Building at the N.C. General Assembly, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina judges on Monday, Oct. 28, 2019, blocked the state's congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain. (Corey Lowenstein/The News & Observer via AP, File)
October 28, 2019 - 11:27 pm

North Carolina judges block current congressional map

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina judges on Monday blocked the state's congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain. The panel of three...
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A woman enters a Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles drivers license service center, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Hialeah, Fla. The U.S. Census Bureau has asked the 50 states for drivers' license information, months after President Donald Trump ordered the collection of citizenship information. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
October 23, 2019 - 5:47 pm

Most states not giving driver's license data to Washington

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An effort by the U.S. Census Bureau to collect state driver's license records as part of President Donald Trump's order to gather citizenship information has been a bust so far. As of Wednesday, the vast majority of state motor vehicle agencies had not agreed to share their...
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Shawn Terry, a Democratic candidate for the state legislature in Texas, meets with supporters during a campaign event in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Terry has already raised $235,000 as Democratic donors pour money into legislative races nationwide in hopes of flipping statehouse chambers in 2020. (AP Photo/Paul J. Weber)
August 20, 2019 - 10:53 am

Democrats spending millions to try to take back statehouses

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democrats still shaken by the 2010 tea party wave that netted Republicans six governors' offices, flipped 21 statehouse chambers and drove nearly 700 Democratic state legislators from office are mounting a comeback, pouring millions of dollars into state level races. In a...
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July 30, 2019 - 4:22 pm

Michigan Republicans sue to block redistricting commission

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republicans sued Tuesday to block the creation of Michigan's new, voter-approved redistricting commission, challenging eligibility guidelines that prohibit politicians and others from serving on the panel. The lawsuit, filed in federal court and praised by a national GOP group...
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July 26, 2019 - 2:41 pm

N Carolina trial into partisan gerrymandering wrapping up

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge North Carolina panel was considering Friday whether politicians can be too extreme in drawing legislative voting districts to their advantage, a judgment the U.S. Supreme Court refused to make about congressional elections. The judges start deliberating at the end...
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In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina’s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)
July 02, 2019 - 6:31 pm

Files from dead mapmaker focus of NC redistricting hearing

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Documents recovered from the house of a deceased Republican mapmaker that are part of a partisan gerrymandering lawsuit in North Carolina shouldn't be used in this month's scheduled trial because there's no way to authenticate them, GOP lawyers said Tuesday. The files linked to...
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In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina’s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)
June 28, 2019 - 4:38 pm

Gerrymandering architect's files figure in census, map cases

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — During his long career drawing legislative maps designed to help Republicans, Tom Hofeller preached about the dangers of leaving digital fingerprints. As he advised in a 2011 presentation about redistricting strategies: "Make sure your computer is in a PRIVATE location," and "...
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FILE - In this April 1, 2019, file photo, Mindy Nagel poses for a photograph at the threshold of her home in Cincinnati. Nagel's home is split by two House districts. The Supreme Court said, by a 5-4 vote on Thursday, June 27, 2019, that claims of partisan gerrymandering do not belong in federal court. The court's conservative, Republican-appointed majority says that voters and elected officials should be the arbiters of what is a political dispute The decision effectively reverses the outcome of rulings in Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio, where courts had ordered new maps drawn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
June 28, 2019 - 12:09 am

High court's ruling shifts gerrymandering focus to states

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The battle for political advantage in state capitols is poised to become more intense after the U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that federal judges have no role in settling disputes over partisan gerrymandering. Thursday's ruling could empower Republicans and...
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