Latest news with #Black-preferred
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Federal judges hear arguments from NAACP, state officials over new legislative districts
A federal three-judge panel on Tuesday did not indicate whether it would accept the Mississippi Legislature's plan to redraw 15 legislative districts or demand that candidates run under a different map in a November special election. Attorneys for the NAACP and state officials appeared in federal court in Jackson to argue whether the Legislature's proposed maps satisfy a previous court order that determined state officials diluted Black voting strength when they redrew the state's 174 legislative districts in 2022. Two U.S. district judges, Daniel Jordan III and Sul Ozerden, and one U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge, Leslie Southwick, ordered the state to create new legislative maps that redraw a House district around the Chickasaw County area, a Senate district in DeSoto County and a Senate district in the Hattiesburg area. The Legislature proposed a new Senate map that creates one new majority-Black district each in DeSoto County and the Hattiesburg area, with no incumbent senator in either district. To account for the new districts, two pairs of incumbents were placed in other districts. The Legislature also proposed a new House map that tweaked five districts in north Mississippi and made the House district in Chickasaw County a majority-Black district. 'The Legislature chose to draw plans in an effort to satisfy the court's order,' said Tommie Cardin, an attorney representing the state. The NAACP and Black voters from around the state are the plaintiffs in the case. They did not object to the Hattiesburg-area Senate districts, but they do object to the proposal in the DeSoto County Senate district and the Chickasaw County House district. Ari Savitzky, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told the judges that the DeSoto and Chickasaw districts, on paper, may contain a majority of Black citizens eligible to vote. However, he said they still do not allow Black voters a realistic shot at electing candidates of their choice. 'The legislative plans add numerically Black-majority districts, but the opportunities they create are illusory,' Savitzky said. State officials are the defendants in the suit, and contend that federal law does not require them to create a district that gives Black voters a realistic chance of success. It simply requires them to make one that is competitive. 'This is not a beauty contest among plans where the court determines which plan is more superior to the other,' Cardin said. Rep. Jon Lancaster, a Republican from Houston, currently represents the central House district in question. Savitzsky said that because an incumbent represents that district, it would be difficult for a Black-preferred candidate to win against him in a special election. Judge Southwick pushed back on that argument, saying that incumbency seems more specific to the 'politics of the moment,' instead of a broader legal argument. 'I'm not sure there's precedential authority to show it isn't a good district,' Southwick said. The panel, however, asked the attorneys of both parties about the DeSoto County Senate district. This part of the proposal has met objections from both the plaintiffs and local officials in DeSoto County, though for different reasons. Judge Jordan and Judge Southwick pressed attorneys on whether it was enough for the new majority-Black districts to have a simple majority of eligible Black voters, or if the districts should contain an 'effective majority' to satisfy federal law. Savitzky argued that in the DeSoto-area districts where a white candidate is running in a white-majority district, the white candidate is predicted to win almost every time. But when a Black candidate runs in the majority-Black district proposed by the Legislature, it's simply a 'coin flip' whether the Black candidate will win. Cardin, however, argued federal law only requires the state's remedial maps to create a 'real opportunity' for Black voters to elect their preferred candidate, not a 'guarantee of success.' The panel did not issue a ruling from the bench, nor did it give a specific timeframe for when it would issue a ruling. However, Judge Southwick said the panel would hand down a ruling as 'quickly as we can.' An attorney for the state stressed that state and local elections officials must have a resolution by the end of the month to process absentee ballot applications from military members serving overseas. If the federal judges accept the Legislature's maps, the qualifying period for new elections would run from May 19 to May 30. The primary election would be held on August 5, with a potential primary runoff on September 2 and the general election on November 4.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's DOJ pulls out of lawsuit that accused Houston County of suppressing Black voters
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has pulled out of a lawsuit that accused Houston County of violating its Black residents' civil rights through its election system, court records show. Houston County and its commissioners, Dan Perdue, Shane Gottwals, Gail Robinson, Tal Talton and Mark Byrd were sued by former President Joe Biden's DOJ in January before Trump took office for allegedly creating an election method that diluted the voting strength of its Black residents, which violated the Voting Rights Act. But the DOJ pulled back its own complaint on March 17 with no explanation. The case against Houston County was one of two lawsuits that were dropped, in which Biden's DOJ alleged racial discrimination in elections. Texas faced a similar lawsuit, but a DOJ attorney announced at the beginning of the trial that the case would be dismissed, according to NPR. The case against Houston County remains ongoing because two Black voters, Michael Jones and Courtney Driver, joined the lawsuit in March and are still suing. Jones and Driver sued the Board of Elections and its chair, Pamela Morgan. Jones and Driver have asked the judge to declare that Houston County violated the Voting Rights Act and prohibit it from conducting future elections until the county complies with the Voting Rights Act. The DOJ had conducted an investigation into Houston County for multiple years, according to Bryan Tyson, the county's attorney. The county was accused of conducting an election system that did not benefit Black candidates or voters, despite the growing Black population, its lawsuit said. About 105,000 of Houston County's nearly 172,000 residents are active registered voters, according to the DOJ. About 55% are white and 30% are Black, and white voters cast their ballots at higher rates than Black voters, the DOJ said. The county's current election system has seen Black-preferred commission candidates lose despite the support of the growing Black population in the county, the lawsuit said. Houston Porter, elected in 1980, is the only Black Houston County commission candidate to have won since Reconstruction. The DOJ, Jones and Driver previously said in their suits they believed Black voters would have better opportunity to elect preferred candidates if the county was redistricted. Considering Houston County has geographically and socially distinct Black and white communities, the DOJ proposed crafting a district that included neighborhoods in the northern and eastern portions of Warner Robins, apartment complexes along Carl Vinson Parkway and racially diverse neighborhoods in southern Warner Robins. Driver and Jones also proposed changes to how the community could vote for their preferred candidates. They suggested: Cumulative voting, which allows voters to cast multiple votes Limited voting, in which voters are given a selection of candidates and voters choose to vote for some of them Ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference The DOJ indicated that Houston County had a history of discrimination against Black people that has affected their education, health and employment and, as a result, hindered their ability 'to participate effectively in the political process,' the DOJ said in its complaint. But, to Jones and Driver, the history of discrimination spanned all over Georgia, their complaint states. Tyson said Houston County would do its own investigation into the allegations to determine if the evidence supports it. He further said that, if he finds that they agree with the DOJ, they would 'take appropriate action.' However, Tyson requested to dismiss the allegations as the DOJ did not sue the correct party, court records show. 'Houston County and the individual members of the Board do not administer the elections in Houston County and did not adopt the countywide method of election,' Tyson said in the request. 'Enjoining them cannot change the current method of election of commissioners as DOJ seeks.' The election method adopted by Houston County was created by the Georgia General Assembly, Tyson said. Tyson responded to Driver and Jones' complaint in court records by saying private individuals can't enforce the Voting Rights Act that Houston County allegedly violated, and it would be up to the DOJ. Tyson said in a request for dismissal that 'the Supreme Court has not decided that such a right exists.' Tyson also said Driver and Jones didn't specify where they live in Houston County. 'As a result, they have not shown they have an interest that could be addressed by this lawsuit,' Tyson said. The judge assigned to this case must decide whether to enforce the Voting Rights Act, as requested by Driver and Jones, or dismiss the case. There has been no hearing scheduled nor an opinion from the judge filed before publication.
