Redistricting

[bob]

NPR: After Months Of Delay, The Census Data For New Voting Maps Is Coming Out Aug. 12:

After months of delays, the 2020 census results used to redraw voting districts around the country will finally be released on Aug. 12, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday.

In a tweet, the federal government's largest statistical agency confirmed that the detailed demographic data will be posted on its website four days sooner than Aug. 16, the previously announced deadline the bureau had agreed to meet as part of a lawsuit by Ohio over the data's release schedule.

The coronavirus pandemic and interference by the administration of former President Donald Trump have forced the bureau to put out new redistricting data about five months later than its original schedule in order to run more quality checks.

[Lani]

I learned something new about the Census. North Africans and Middle Easterners are considered White.

Filling out the 2020 Census launched me into a bit of an identity crisis. Under the “race or origin” question, I saw myself, a person of Egyptian descent, defined as “White” for the first time. The Census Bureau just released detailed reports on its race and ethnicity data. While this census showed a drop in the White population, those numbers might have been lower still if the census had been conducted more fairly.

I’m trying to raise my kids to be proud of their Middle Eastern heritage. But our contributions to diversity aren’t systematically tracked. We’re not typically who a company or university is looking for when seeking to diversify its staff, student body or faculty. When you’re part of an invisible minority, it can make you feel invisible, like your diversity doesn’t add value to the cultural table. Not to mention that invisible minorities cannot rely on civil rights and anti-discrimination protections afforded to recognized minority groups.

Aggregating people of Middle Eastern origin into the White category also falsely inflates the statistical edge of the alleged majority group. It’s like gerrymandering demographic data, redrawing the boundaries of race and ethnicity to the advantage of those in power. People who identify as White still constitute a majority of the U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau. But, then again, I’m identified as White on the latest census, and I’m not White. There may very well be a robust MENA population in Austin, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the numbers.

We’re here. Hiding in plain sight.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... c=nl_ideas

[bill_g]

Redistricting should be done by computers following rules that approximate regular geometric figures. Exceptions would include state, county, and city boundaries, as well geographic features like rivers. They should based solely on population, and populations of each district should be within twenty percent.

Etc, etc. It shouldn't be hard to accomplish.

[Suranis]

I learned something new about the Census. North Africans and Middle Easterners are considered White.l_ideas

Meh. They have to draw lines somewhere, and no matter where you put the limes you are going to offend someone.

I remember having an argument recently about a Meme "there are no white men in the Bible." Because, you know, that's meaningful. See also Japanese.

Anyway I pointed out there are Romans in the bible, so yes there are white people in the Bible. And then someone literally started screaming through text that Romans were not white so don't count. After showing some Roman art I basically said "Look, Romans may not have been Irish pasty cream white, but saying Italians are not white is ludicrous."

[Volkonski]

The Dems might play redistricting games of their own.

[raison de arizona]

[bob]

So, WaPo made redistricting mini golf, which reimages proposed congressional districts as holes on a mini golf course.

The controls leave much to be desired, and I think the game penalizes too much for water hazards (e.g., it isn't unusual for both sides of a river to be in same district), but it is an interesting way to teach about gerrymandering.

[raison de arizona]

FWIW, here's the campaign website of the lower court judge who was poised to pick PA's new congressional map until the Dem-majority PA Supreme Court issued a stay yesterday.

► Show Spoiler

[filly]

[AndyinPA]

[Luke]

BOOM! Let's go team!

MeidasTouch.com @MeidasTouch 1h
HUGE! Democrats have now taken the lead in regards to redistricting, per the Cook Political Report. Democrats are now expected to net 2-3 House seats from the new congressional maps. It all depends on if we stay energized and show up in November! Let’s do this!

Marc E. Elias Retweeted MeidasTouch.com @MeidasTouch
Special thank you to @marceelias for helping to make this happen! This is why the right fears and attacks him. Make sure you are following Marc and
@DemocracyDocket for important updates.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Luke]

BOOM! Marc Elias strikes again!! Be sure to follow him and Democracy Docket, he has been working nonstop on this (along with Eric Holder and the Redistricting Project). Well, and of course, huge thanks to FOGGY (cause he rules NC with an iron fist)!!

This counts as a FRIDAY SMACKDOWN!

North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down GOP-drawn congressional map
In a ruling released Friday evening, the justices wrote that the current map was an illegal partisan gerrymander that is “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.”
By ALLY MUTNICK 02/04/2022 06:36 PM EST

North Carolina's state Supreme Court handed Democrats one of their biggest legal victories yet in the fight over redistricting, striking down a GOP-drawn congressional map that could have given Republicans control of 11 of the state’s 14 districts. In a ruling released Friday evening, the justices wrote that the current map was an illegal partisan gerrymander that is “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.” The state Supreme Court gave the state legislature until Feb. 18 to submit a new redistricting proposal to the court — or a trial court will approve a new plan.

Democrats were anxiously awaiting this ruling after the state Supreme Court heard opening arguments on Wednesday. They have a narrow majority on the high court, but a more conservative lower court had initially let the Republican-drawn map stand.

The Republican-drawn map eliminated two current Democratic seats, transforming retiring Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield’s seat into a competitive district and gutting the seat held by Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning. Democrats currently hold five seats in the North Carolina delegation, their highest total in years, thanks to a 2020 state court decision that determined last decade’s map was also unfairly drawn to benefit Republicans.

North Carolina gained a seat in reapportionment. It has a Republican-controlled General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has no veto power over maps. Democrats have poured resources into state Supreme Court elections in recent years in the hopes of placing a check on Republicans’ total control of redistricting power in the state.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/0 ... n-00005974

Ruling: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017e ... bd64c60000


This was the first thing that came to mind and have never used this before

[raison de arizona]

Poop.

BREAKING AT SCOTUS: in a blow to voting rights, justices vote 5-4 to PERMIT Alabama to use a gerrymandered congressional map that dilutes voting influence of African Americans. A major victory for Republicans.

It may still get overturned, but it is extremely unlikely that it would in time for the 2022 elections.

[raison de arizona]

OK, this shifted into high gear.

Interesting development in Alabama, where SCOTUS rejected Voting Rights Act claims earlier this week. A district judge has now ordered the parties to respond to Constitutional objections (racial gerrymandering) to the map that that were not previously fully considered by Monday.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/p ... c6d50.html

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court broke a partisan deadlock Wednesday over a new map of congressional districts by selecting new boundaries that broadly adhere to the outlines of current districts, even as the state loses one seat because of sluggish population growth.

The Democratic-majority state Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision picked a 17-district map that had been proposed by a group of Democratic-aligned voters who sued last year in an effort to get the court involved.

It is unlikely to create a big shift in the makeup of the congressional delegation, as the state loses a seat, going from 18 to 17, to account for relatively stagnant population growth in census findings over the past decade, particularly in rural white areas predominantly represented by Republicans.

The map provides eight Republican-leaning districts, six Democratic-leaning districts and three closely divided districts, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, a website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics and other topics.

Pennsylvania’s delegation is currently split evenly, nine Republicans and nine Democrats, in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 4 million to 3.4 million.

[SuzieC]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3 ... appens-now

Update on Ohio redistricting mess: Supreme Court rejects Republican maps for the third straight time.

[raison de arizona]

A thread that ends with a spinning head. Strangeness is afoot!

► Show Spoiler

[raison de arizona]

BREAKING: A Kansas trial court just invalidated the state's 4R-0D congressional redistricting plan.

The Court ruled that the map is BOTH a partisan gerrymander AND racial vote dilution.

This is a huge win for our clients, Kansas voters, and democracy.

https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default ... 0Final.pdf

[raison de arizona]

[raison de arizona]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3 ... appens-now

Update on Ohio redistricting mess: Supreme Court rejects Republican maps for the third straight time.

Bad news in Ohio, federal court overrules Ohio Supreme Court.

BREAKING: Federal court orders Ohio to implement state legislative district maps that were ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court

Map 3 creates 54 Republican and 45 Democratic House seats along with 18 Republican and 15 Democratic Senate seats. Of those, 16 DEM districts in the House and 6 DEM districts in the Senate are toss-up districts.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1 ... ack-voters

Court strikes down South Carolina House district, ruling GOP discriminated against Black voters
A federal court struck down South Carolina's 1st Congressional District on Friday, ruling that Republican lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Black voters when they redrew it. The three-judge panel concluded that legislators had violated the Constitution in packing too many African Americans into the neighboring 6th District, illegally letting race predominate when drawing their new map without serving a compelling government interest.

The legislature now has until March 31 to devise a remedial plan. However, the court rejected similar claims of racial gerrymandering by the plaintiffs, who are backed by the NAACP, regarding the 2nd and 5th districts, limiting the scope of the decision.

The 1st District had seen competitive elections under the previous map in recent years: Democrat Joe Cunningham won a 51-49 upset in 2018 before losing by that same margin to Republican Nancy Mace in 2020. However, the GOP engaged in defensive gerrymandering in order to insulate Mace from future challenges, shifting the 1st from a district that had backed Donald Trump by a 52-46 margin to one that would have given him a wider 53-45 edge.

They did so by moving Black voters—who reliably vote for Democrats—from the 1st into the already dark blue 6th District, a Voting Rights Act-protected seat that already was home to a Black majority and has long sent Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Black Democrat, to Congress. (Due to population loss, the 6th had to add a significant number of new residents and now has a Black plurality, despite GOP packing.) As a result, Mace comfortably won reelection in the 1st by a 56-42 margin last year.

But despite this latest ruling, a revised map may not significantly improve Black voters' ability to reliably elect their preferred candidate—almost certainly a Democrat—in a second one of the state's seven districts, even though nearly two-sevenths of South Carolina's population is Black. That's because the court's ruling hinged on the 14th Amendment rather than the Voting Rights Act; while the latter can require states to draw districts that empower Black voters to elect their chosen candidates, the former mandates only that map-makers don't let race predominate over other factors without justification when crafting lines.

Republicans may therefore try to continue to pursue their partisan ends of drawing a map that favors Republicans in six of the state's seven districts simply by convincing the court that a future map does not overly rely on race. Nevertheless, if this ruling survives a likely appeal, it could see the 1st District become somewhat less favorable toward Republicans. But given the Supreme Court's deep hostility toward minority voting rights in recent redistricting rulings, this decision could get overturned.