Archive for the ‘ELECT Blog Archives’ Category
ELECT Blog Archives
Alabama Congressional Districts – Disconcerting or Not?
On December 12, Democrat nominee Doug Jones defeated Republican nominee Roy Moore in Alabama’s special election for United States Senate. This election was a hard-fought race with President Donald Trump supporting a losing candidate in the Republican primary and then the controversial Roy Moore. Jones’s margin of victory state-wide was approximately 1.5 percentage points. Interestingly, […]
ELECT Blog Archives
US Supreme Court hears oral argument over Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering
On Tuesday, October 3, the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in Gill v. Whitford, a case concerning the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin legislative districts. The lower court held the Wisconsin plans violated the constitution by drawing legislative district maps that favored Republicans over Democrats. The Supreme Court last addressed partisan gerrymandering in […]
ELECT Blog Archives
Oral argument on state legislative redistricting plan coming up
On Tuesday, October 3, the US Supreme Court will hear oral argument on whether Wisconsin’s state legislative redistricting plan violates the Constitution due to partisan gerrymandering. Courts have rejected redistricting plans that predominantly use race or plans that violate the “one person, one vote” principle. However, the Supreme Court has not gone so far to […]
ELECT Blog Archives
Partisan Gerrymandering Case will be Heard by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court continues to jump head-first into the world of redistricting. On June 19, 2017, the Court agreed to hear an appeal by the State of Wisconsin to the three-judge district court panel ruling which threw out the state’s legislative districts drawn after the 2010 census. A divided three-judge panel held the Wisconsin plan […]
ELECT Blog Archives
US Supreme Court Holds 28 North Carolina state House and Senate districts are Racially Gerrymandered
By Rob Tyson In North Carolina v. Covington, the United State Supreme Court upheld the three-judge panel decision that 28 of North Carolina state House of Representative and Senate districts were drawn as racial gerrymanders in violation of the equal protection clause.[1] However, the Supreme Court reversed the district court ruling ordering newly drawn districts […]
ELECT Blog Archives
Voter purge case to be heard by Supreme Court
by Rob Tyson The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Ohio’s policy of removing voters from the voter registration rolls. In Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court ruling denying the Plaintiffs’ request for an injunction to reinstate the removed voters or […]
ELECT Blog Archives
North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Cases
By Rob Tyson Earlier this month, a three-judge panel in two consolidated cases, issued a memorandum opinion denying the Defendants’ motion to dismiss. In both cases, Common Cause v. Robert Rucho, and League of Women Voters v. Robert Rucho, Plaintiffs alleged North Carolina’s 2016 Congressional Redistricting Plan was unconstitutional because the districts were premised on […]
ELECT Blog Archives
Partisan Gerrymandering Case May Be Heard by Supreme Court
Last week, the State of Wisconsin filed an appeal with the United States Supreme Court requesting the Court overturn the ruling that struck down the Wisconsin legislative districts drawn after the 2010 census. In Whitford v. Gill, the court held the legislative districts were unconstitutionally drawn. The court utilized a mathematical analysis to support its […]
ELECT Blog Archives
US Supreme Court hears Two Redistricting Challenges
By Rob Tyson On December 5, the United States Supreme Court held hearings in McCrory v. Harris and Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections, two redistricting cases stemming from the drawing of congressional districts in North Carolina and state legislative districts in Virginia, respectively. Historically, redistricting cases have been known to result in split […]
ELECT Blog Archives
Update on Voter Registration of Students living on-campus in Greenville County
By Rob Tyson Last month, several college students sued the Greenville County Office of Voter Registration and Elections challenging the County’s use of a questionnaire for persons seeking to register to vote using an on-campus address. Circuit Judge Robin Stillwell issued a temporary injunction ordering the County to cease from using the questionnaire. Greenville County […]