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POLITICS
Three Southern States Are Defying the Courts Over Voting Maps
They have disenfranchised Black voters with gerrymandered maps that they refuse to change
It just won’t stop. Republicans will go to any length to disenfranchise minority voters. It’s not enough that they draw gerrymandered voting maps that guarantee them permanent majorities, but when they are ordered by the courts to redraw the maps to restore minorities their rights under the Voting Rights Act, Republicans defy the courts.
Can you imagine the outrage from Republicans if Democrats did that?
So, here’s what’s going on. The Republican legislatures of Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana all took advantage of the 2020 census to redraw their voting maps and ensure a permanent Republican majority in both the state legislature and their congressional delegations.
The Alabama and Louisiana cases are especially egregious. In Alabama, which is 26% Black, there is only one “Black” district out of seven congressional districts. The courts ordered the map redrawn so that there were two “Black” districts. The legislators presented a “new” map which had the same single “Black” district.