By Ivan Sanchez
While the recent US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision in Alabama regarding redistricting, created a new Black opportunity district that would enable Black voters to elect the candidate of their choice, other Southern states have seen backsliding on the principle of one person, one vote. States across the Southeast are going for broke in eliminating or reducing minority voting power.
In the otherwise middling midterms of 2022, North Carolina lost their Democratic majority on their Supreme Court. A few months into the new legislative term, the North Carolina Supreme Court summarily reversed the previous court’s decision that banned partisan gerrymandering. In a 5-2 decision in April the Court found “We hold that partisan gerrymandering claims present a political question that is nonjusticiable under the North Carolina Constitution” eliminating court oversight of gerrymandering.
Moving forward to October, with one Democrat flipping parties to Republicans giving the North Carolina state legislature a veto-proof majority, a mid-decade redistricting was complete, possibly eliminating four currently seated Democratic congressional representatives in next year’s election.
In South Carolina, the US Supreme Court seemed far more skeptical of racial gerrymandering claims than they were in Alabama in oral arguments on October 11. Justice John Roberts seemed particularly concerned that there was no direct evidence of racial bias, while Justice Ketanji Jackson and the Court’s other liberals noted that all the evidence pointed to race being the predominate factor. The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on the South Carolina case by July 2024.
The lower courts ordered Louisiana to draw a new Black opportunity district, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the decision, and the US Supreme Court upheld that stay in an unsigned order on October 19. There was no dissent noted, although Justice Jackson did leave open the possibility that they may order the drawing at a later date.
With multiple pending lawsuits, victories and defeats in the redistricting battle, the decisions in the South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida gerrymandering cases will play a role in who controls the US House of Representatives in January 2025.
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