The #SupremeCourt on Thurs allowed the use of a #SC congressional map that a lower court said “exiled” thousands of #BlackVoters to carve out a district safer for a #WhiteRepublican incumbent.
The decision was a victory for #Republicans not only because it clears the way for a map that is favorable to the #GOP. It also sets a high bar for determining when a map can be considered a #RacialGerrymander, rather than a #partisan one. #SCOTUS has previously found the #Constitution bars racial #gerrymandering but that federal courts cannot police partisan gerrymandering.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel #Alito noted many predominantly #Black precincts in #Charleston were moved out of one district & into another. But “because of the tight correlation between race & partisan preferences, this fact does little to show that #race, not #politics drove the legislature’s choice,” he wrote.
Sometimes I wish just one Republican state would leave the US to found it's own country.
Just one, which could try out all the book burning, closed borders, fewer women's rights, religios politics, non-scientific medicine — so everyone could really see, what that leads to.
For years, politicians in Europe blamed everything on the EU, but I can assure you, when Britain left our union and became a country with considerable challenges, it crushed the EU blame game in many countries.
Now, I have always voted since I was first eligible in the '80s. But I want to post a reminder that there are massive systemic issues with our voting system.
We can each do our individual best, while also recognizing that systemic issues do not have individual solutions.
We do not have "apathetic" voters, we have massively, intentionally disenfranchised voters.
I voted for someone who actually won! A progressive queer woman won this absurdly gerrymandered district. Which should not exist of course, just look at the sheer work that was put into skewing its borders block by block. #democracy?
@sidb my math-nerd solution for #gerrymandering is that boundary committees should have a limited quota of vertices or corners – say 10 or 12 – and they have to define a district without going over that.
In February, after a long, drawn-out legal fight, new legislative maps were signed into law in Wisconsin, generating a lot of optimism among Wisconsin’s Democrats #Wisconsin#Gerrymandering#Elections
As #Elections Loom, Congressional Maps Challenged as Discriminatory Will Remain in Place
With control of the House of Representatives hanging in the balance, the time-consuming appeals process means elections in multiple districts will take place using maps that have been challenged as discriminatory to #voters of color.
#SouthCarolina to use #CongressionalMap deemed #unconstitutional #SCOTUS heard arguments on the redistricting case in Oct but has yet to rule🤬, essentially running out the clock for the #2024election. A #federal#court ruled Thurs that time had run out to draw a new congressional district in #SC & said the state could use its existing map even though it had earlier determined that map was unconstitutional.
The panel of 3 judges last year concluded that #SouthCarolina’s #Republican-led #legislature “exiled” 30k #BlackVoters from the district to make it safer for a #White#GOP incumbent, Rep #NancyMace. #SC appealed, & both sides asked #SCOTUS to expedite the case to ensure a final ruling was in place well ahead of #election season. The justices heard arguments in October but have yet to rule.
During arguments, a majority of the #SupremeCourt appeared inclined to reinstate the lines the state had wanted. 5 months later, the justices have yet to rule. Both sides had asked the justices to rule by Jan.
By hanging onto the case, #SCOTUS effectively allowed the clock to run out for the #2024election.
Yesterday the Fair Representation Act was re-introduced in Congress! This reform will stop gerrymandering and make the House of Representatives more competitive and more responsive to voters.