"States redraw districts ahead of midterms" PBS NewsHour 1/16/2022
Excerpt
SUMMARY: Several states across the country have redrawn legislative districts on the basis of the 2020 census. In Michigan, the lines were drawn for the first time by an independent commission made up of citizens. NewsHour Weekend's Christopher Booker has an update to our report from there, and Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Adam Podowitz-Thomas, senior legal strategist at the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.
Hay, Iraq has gerrymandering too.
"Iraqi protesters allege election corruption, vow to boycott polls" PBS NewsHour 10/9/2021
Excerpt
SUMMARY: Iraq’s elections will be held on Sunday, but members of the country’s protest movement are already planning on boycotting the event. They say that the election process is corrupt, with paramilitary wings of incumbent parties attacking opposition supporters. With low turnout, the Shi’ite Cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s party is expected to win a large share of seats and possibly control of the government. Special Correspondent Simona Foltyn reports.
SUMMARY: The Supreme Court ended its term with two major rulings that could have long-running implications for fundamental U.S. political processes. It blocked a census citizenship question, at least for now, and declared federal courts have no role in policing partisan gerrymandering. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang and Stu Rothenberg of “Inside Elections” join Jeffrey Brown and National Law Journal’s Marcia Coyle.
SUMMARY: Can electoral maps go too far in favoring one political party over the other? It’s a question the Supreme Court has previously left unresolved but is considering again as it takes up challenges to congressional maps drawn by North Carolina Republicans and Maryland Democrats. Amna Nawaz talks to National Law Journal’s Marcia Coyle about the challenge of a "manageable standard" for redistricting.
SUMMARY: The Supreme Court upheld current state and congressional districts in Texas in a much-awaited 5-4 decision on racial gerrymandering. The majority rejected a lower court's findings that Texas had engaged in racial discrimination, primarily against black and Hispanic voters, in its 2013 redistricting map. The National Law Journal's Marcia Coyle joins Amna Nawaz to discuss the ruling.
SUMMARY: Lack of access to running water is an issue in many developing countries, but it is also a problem in the United States. Nearly 40 percent of the homes in the Navajo Nation lack running water or sanitation, and many are in such remote areas that they will never be able to connect to a water line. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on new efforts to bring them basic amenities.
SUMMARY: There is a heated battle in one Utah county over voting district lines and the effect on Native American representation. Last year, a federal judge ruled that the districts had been gerrymandered by lumping the Navajo into a single bloc, drawing angry reaction from some. Special correspondent Tommy Brookbank from the University of Southern California's Annenberg Rural Reporting Initiative reports.
SUMMARY: The Supreme Court delved again into the high-stakes debate over what is and isn't allowed when lawmakers draw electoral districts. In the latest case, the court heard arguments over whether a Maryland district was redrawn to help Democrats. Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss the details and the potential ramifications.
SUMMARY: The Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit that challenges Wisconsin's legislative map over partisan gerrymandering, and the outcome could have national implications. Special correspondent Jeff Greenfield offers an overview of the case, then Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal joins Lisa Desjardins to break down the arguments heard by the court on Tuesday.
SUMMARY: President Trump's revised travel ban will be tested this fall at the Supreme Court. On the final day of their term, the justices reinstated a limited version of the order, affecting travelers from six majority-Muslim countries. Judy Woodruff discusses the implications of the court's decision with Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal and Alan Gomez of USA Today.
SUMMARY: President Trump's executive order banning entry into the U.S. from six majority-Muslim countries finally takes effect Thursday after months of legal and political wrangling. The Supreme Court issued a partial green light earlier this week by only allowing those with “bona fide” family or business ties to be allowed in. Judy Woodruff learns more from Yeganeh Torbati of Reuters.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): We turn now to Supreme Court arguments today on the intersection of race and politics.
Alabama Democrats are arguing that the state legislature has packed minorities and Democrats into too few districts, in violation of voting rights laws. But that’s open to interpretation, and it fell to the high court to tackle that today.
And, as always, Marcia Coyle was in the chamber for “The National Law Journal” and for us.
So tell me about this intersection and how it played out today.
MARCIA COYLE, The National Law Journal: OK.
Well, after the 2010 census, the Republican-led Alabama legislature engaged in redrawing state legislative districts, just like other states were doing, following the census. The plan they came up with was challenged by the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and the Alabama Democratic Conference, who claimed that the plan was what we called a racial gerrymander because it packed into existing majority black districts more majority voters in order to make the surrounding districts more white and more likely to vote Republican.
GWEN IFILL: Now, when we talk gerrymander, that is generally a very elaborate way of drawing districts for certain purposes. Does it matter more constitutionally or according to the law whether these lines are drawn for racial reasons or for other reasons?
MARCIA COYLE: It does. It matters a lot. There are two really background principles here to keep in mind.
First, the Supreme Court in its voting rights decisions has said that race cannot be the predominant factor in redistricting.
GWEN IFILL: It can be a factor, but not the main factor.
MARCIA COYLE: Right. It can be a factor, but not the main one. And if it is the main one, it violates the Constitution.
