Allen v. Milligan
Federal appeals court dismisses Arkansas redistricting lawsuit
This story was originally published on Arkansas Advocate. A federal appeals panel on Monday affirmed a lower court’s ruling and dismissed a case challenging Arkansas’ state redistricting map, asserting that only the United States attorney general can enforce the Voting Rights Act. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that […]
Hammering Alabama elections in search of a nail
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen doesn’t want to make voting easier. He’s always been clear on that. Take an interview Alabama’s elections chief did a few weeks ago. Allen said he opposed automatic voter registration (AVR), a program where a qualified voter gets registered when they do something like renew a driver’s license. “Registering […]
Federal court selects new Alabama congressional map
A federal court Thursday ordered Alabama to implement a new congressional map drawn by a court-appointed special master that creates a majority-Black district and a near-majority Black district. In a 49-page opinion issued on Thursday morning, U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. district judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer wrote that the plan, known […]
Federal court will ‘rule shortly’ on Alabama’s new congressional map
A federal judge said Tuesday that a three-judge panel will “rule shortly” a new congressional map for the state of Alabama. The comment from U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus, on the panel alongside U.S. district judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer, came at the end of a 90-minute hearing in Birmingham where attorneys for the […]
Alabama congressional map proposals headed to federal court hearing
A federal court Tuesday will hold hearings in Birmingham on which of three proposed Alabama congressional maps should be put in place for the 2024 elections. Special Master Richard Allen filed three potential maps last week, aiming to meet the three-judge panel’s directive that two of the proposed districts give Black voters a chance to […]
Steve Marshall doesn’t know what Jim Crow was
Last Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a “statement on redistricting to the people of Alabama.” It said his office would abide by a federal court order creating a second majority or near-majority Black congressional district while appealing the ruling. That’s a standard comment when one loses cases like these. (The office on Friday […]
Alabama Secretary of State, reapportionment chairs oppose maps drawn by special master
Alabama’s secretary of state and the chairs of the Alabama Legislature’s reapportionment committees filed objections to new congressional map proposals with a federal court on Thursday. The objections from Secretary of State Wes Allen; Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile and Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, used nearly identical language, criticizing the three proposed maps from a special […]
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Alabama’s request to stay redistricting decision
The United States Supreme Court Tuesday denied Alabama’s request to stay a lower court decision directing a special master to draw new state congressional maps to remedy Voting Rights Act violations. The nation’s high court dismissed the request in two one-sentence orders Tuesday morning. No opinions were given with the decision, which could open the […]
Alabama redistricting: Special master submits three proposed congressional maps
Three proposed Alabama congressional maps will give Alabama’s Black voters a chance of electing their preferred candidates in two of the state’s seven congressional districts, a person overseeing the maps told a federal court Monday. Richard Allen, the special master assigned by the three-judge panel overseeing Alabama’s redistricting process, wrote in a 44-page report that […]
Anti-democratic moves by state lawmakers raise fears for 2024 election
In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers are threatening to impeach both the state’s election administrator, who is highly regarded nationally, and a state Supreme Court justice despite a ruling by the state’s judicial commission that the justice had done nothing wrong — effectively nullifying a recent statewide election she won, Democrats say. In North Carolina, a bill […]
Alabama Attorney General’s Office says state is not defying redistricting court order
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office told the U.S. Supreme Court that letting a third party draw new maps would harm the state, and insisted that Alabama was not defying federal court orders. In a 32-page response to plaintiffs urging the court to let a lower court ruling go into effect, attorneys wrote that they followed […]
Milligan plaintiffs: Alabama defying federal redistricting orders
Attorneys for plaintiffs challenging Alabama’s congressional maps Tuesday accused the state of defying federal court orders to draw a second opportunity district for Black voters. In a 51-page brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the attorneys asked the justices to reject a request from the state to stay a special master from drawing new […]