Current:Home > reviewsMississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts -CryptoBase
Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts
View
Date:2025-04-16 12:51:45
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Redrawing some Mississippi legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots, state officials say in new court papers.
Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday in response to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi House and Senate to reconfigure some legislative districts. The judges said current districts dilute the power of Black voters in three parts of the state.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP and several Black residents. The judges said they wanted new districts to be drawn before the next regular legislative session begins in January.
Mississippi held state House and Senate elections in 2023. Redrawing some districts would create the need for special elections to fill seats for the rest of the four-year term.
Election Commission attorneys said Republican Gov. Tate Reeves would need to call legislators into special session and new districts would need to be adopted by Aug. 2 so other deadlines could be met for special elections to be held the same day as this November’s general election for federal offices and state judicial seats.
“It took the State a considerable period of time to draw the current maps,” the Election Commission attorneys said.
The judges ordered legislators to draw majority-Black Senate districts in and around DeSoto County in the northwestern corner of the state and in and around Hattiesburg in the south, and a new majority-Black House district in Chickasaw and Monroe counties in the northeastern part of the state.
The order does not create additional districts. Rather, it requires legislators to adjust the boundaries of existing ones. Multiple districts could be affected, and the Election Commission attorneys said drawing new boundaries “is not realistically achievable” by Aug. 2.
Legislative and congressional districts are updated after each census to reflect population changes from the previous decade. Mississippi’s population is about 59% white and 38% Black.
In the legislative redistricting plan adopted in 2022 and used in the 2023 elections, 15 of the 52 Senate districts and 42 of the 122 House districts are majority-Black. Those are 29% of Senate districts and 34% of House districts.
Jarvis Dortch, a former state lawmaker who is now executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, said the federal judges were correct in ordering revisions to the House and Senate maps.
“Those legislative districts denied Black Mississippians an equal voice in state government,” Dortch said.
Historical voting patterns in Mississippi show that districts with higher populations of white residents tend to lean toward Republicans and that districts with higher populations of Black residents tend to lean toward Democrats.
Lawsuits in several states have challenged the composition of congressional or state legislative districts drawn after the 2020 census.
veryGood! (71)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Maritime historians discover steam tug hidden in Lake Michigan since 1895
- Harris, Trump shift plans after Hurricane Helene’s destruction
- Many small businesses teeter as costs stay high while sales drop
- Sam Taylor
- Is 'The Simpsons' ending? Why the show aired its 'series finale' Sunday
- Queer women rule pop, at All Things Go and in the current cultural zeitgeist
- ‘SNL’ 50th season premiere gets more than 5M viewers, its best opener since 2020
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- Giants name former catcher Buster Posey new President of Baseball Operations, replacing Farhan Zaidi
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Did 'SNL' mock Chappell Roan for harassment concerns? Controversial sketch sparks debate
- 'Baby Reindeer' had 'major' differences with real-life story, judge says
- Who's facing the most pressure in the NHL? Bruins, Jeremy Swayman at impasse
- Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
- Man who put another on death row now says the accused is innocent. | The Excerpt
- Helene rainfall map: See rain totals around southern Appalachian Mountains
- 'I hate Las Vegas': Green Day canceled on at least 2 radio stations after trash talk
Recommendation
Organizers cancel Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna over fears of an attack
Native Americans in Montana ask court for more in-person voting sites
Aurora and Sophia Culpo Detail Bond With Brother-in-Law Christian McCaffrey
Photos and videos capture 'biblical devastation' in Asheville, North Carolina: See Helene's aftermath
John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
How to get your share of Oracle's $115 million class-action settlement; deadline is coming
After CalMatters investigation, Newsom signs law to shed light on maternity ward closures
'Baby Reindeer' had 'major' differences with real-life story, judge says