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League of Women Voters joins Michigan Democrats in lawsuit targeting gerrymandering
Source: Detroit Free Press
Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press Published 3:24 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2017 | Updated 5:17 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2017
The Michigan League of Women Voters and a group of Democrats filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court in Detroit, alleging Michigan's congressional and state electoral districts are unlawfully gerrymandered.
The lawsuit against Michigan's chief election official -- Secretary of State Ruth Johnson -- is the latest effort in Michigan and around the country to try to undo the drawing of election maps in ways proponents say have disenfranchised voters and unfairly disadvantaged Democrats to the advantage of Republicans.
Severe partisan gerrymandering in Michigan violates federal constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection under the law, the suit alleges.
It singles out "Michigan Democrats based on their political affiliation, and intentionally places them in voting districts that reduce or eliminate the power of their votes.".....................................
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/12/22/redistricting-gerrymandering-league-women-voters-lawsuit/972341001/
There is a great little video a link
Sure am glad to see this.
8 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
while the League of Women Voters here in PA is running it through the state courts.
(article date - 12/4/17)
In his opening statement before a three-judge panel, attorney Thomas Geoghegan, who represents the voters, argued that the outcomes of Pennsylvania’s congressional district elections are predetermined. “These maps are weaponized to be voter proof,” said Geoghegan. He pointed out that in the last three elections, Republicans have maintained 13 of Pennsylvania’s 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives regardless of the swings in the number of Republican and Democratic votes recorded. Geoghegan predicted the same outcome for 2018. He said the plaintiffs intend to show how the map was created and how gerrymandered district lines affect the political process.
The plaintiffs’ case hinges on the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which they interpret as protecting voters from having the state come between the people and their national government.
<...>
As their first witness, plaintiffs’ attorneys called Daniel McGlone, an analyst with the mapping and data-processing company Azavea. McGlone testified that the congressional district map shows a clear pattern of using election results and voter registration information based on past election returns and party registration information. He says this was used to pack Democratic voters into as few districts as possible and split voters in communities of interest such as: Harrisburg, Bethlehem, Chester, Erie County, and the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia.
District by district, McGlone was asked to compare changes between the 2011 congressional map with past maps. The use of partisan data, he said, resulted in a map that consistently favors Republicans over Democrats in most districts.
https://whyy.org/articles/battle-pa-s-congressional-district-map-begins-federal-court-gerrymandering-case/
In his opening statement before a three-judge panel, attorney Thomas Geoghegan, who represents the voters, argued that the outcomes of Pennsylvania’s congressional district elections are predetermined. “These maps are weaponized to be voter proof,” said Geoghegan. He pointed out that in the last three elections, Republicans have maintained 13 of Pennsylvania’s 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives regardless of the swings in the number of Republican and Democratic votes recorded. Geoghegan predicted the same outcome for 2018. He said the plaintiffs intend to show how the map was created and how gerrymandered district lines affect the political process.
The plaintiffs’ case hinges on the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which they interpret as protecting voters from having the state come between the people and their national government.
<...>
As their first witness, plaintiffs’ attorneys called Daniel McGlone, an analyst with the mapping and data-processing company Azavea. McGlone testified that the congressional district map shows a clear pattern of using election results and voter registration information based on past election returns and party registration information. He says this was used to pack Democratic voters into as few districts as possible and split voters in communities of interest such as: Harrisburg, Bethlehem, Chester, Erie County, and the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia.
District by district, McGlone was asked to compare changes between the 2011 congressional map with past maps. The use of partisan data, he said, resulted in a map that consistently favors Republicans over Democrats in most districts.
https://whyy.org/articles/battle-pa-s-congressional-district-map-begins-federal-court-gerrymandering-case/
(article date - 12/4/17)
If the challenge is successful, it could force a redrawing of Pennsylvania’s map before next year’s midterm elections. In that case, a lawyer for Gov. Wolf and other state officials said, the state would work to accommodate that process, including adjusting primary dates and schedules.
More likely, the defendants would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Michael Li, a gerrymandering expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said in an interview Monday. And its resolution probably would be stayed pending the Supreme Court decision in a gerrymandering challenge brought in Wisconsin.
The lawsuit most likely to affect the Pennsylvania map before 2018, Li said, begins next week, when the state trial begins in League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania.
One of the biggest obstacles for the plaintiffs in federal court will be that their case could invalidate many maps, Li said. Even maps drawn with politically neutral principles could happen to favor one party or another, even without intent.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/gerrymandering-pennsylvania-redistricting-suit-wade-agre-20171204.html
If the challenge is successful, it could force a redrawing of Pennsylvania’s map before next year’s midterm elections. In that case, a lawyer for Gov. Wolf and other state officials said, the state would work to accommodate that process, including adjusting primary dates and schedules.
More likely, the defendants would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Michael Li, a gerrymandering expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said in an interview Monday. And its resolution probably would be stayed pending the Supreme Court decision in a gerrymandering challenge brought in Wisconsin.
The lawsuit most likely to affect the Pennsylvania map before 2018, Li said, begins next week, when the state trial begins in League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania.
One of the biggest obstacles for the plaintiffs in federal court will be that their case could invalidate many maps, Li said. Even maps drawn with politically neutral principles could happen to favor one party or another, even without intent.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/gerrymandering-pennsylvania-redistricting-suit-wade-agre-20171204.html
(article date - 11/9/17)
In a case that could force the redrawing of congressional maps before the 2018 elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Thursday ordered the Commonwealth Court to decide a gerrymandering lawsuit by the end of the year. “We will have our day in court, and we will get a decision and a resolution of this matter in time for the 2018 election,” said Mimi McKenzie, the legal director of Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center, which represents the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania in the case.
If the districts are, in fact, redrawn before next year’s midterm elections, the result could have national implications. New districts could give Democrats a boost in competitive, Republican-held districts just outside Philadelphia as they push to take control of the U.S. House. “It’s something that has broad national implications,” said Michael Li, senior redistrict counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
The high court’s 4-3 vote overturned a decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pelligrini, who last month ordered a stay in the league’s suit pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case out of Wisconsin. But the league asked the state high court to fast-track the case. In agreeing to do so Thursday, the court employed a power it rarely used. “They reserve it for cases that are of great public importance,” McKenzie said. “This is exactly the kind of case that’s meant for the Supreme Court to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction.”
Experts view Pennsylvania as one of the nation’s most gerrymandered states, with congressional and legislative boundaries drawn to partisan advantage. While Pennsylvania’s voters are fairly evenly split between the parties, Republicans have 13 of the state’s 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tests suggest the map is intentionally designed to favor Republicans.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/gerrymandering-suit-can-proceed-pa-supreme-court-rules-20171109.html
In a case that could force the redrawing of congressional maps before the 2018 elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Thursday ordered the Commonwealth Court to decide a gerrymandering lawsuit by the end of the year. “We will have our day in court, and we will get a decision and a resolution of this matter in time for the 2018 election,” said Mimi McKenzie, the legal director of Philadelphia-based Public Interest Law Center, which represents the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania in the case.
If the districts are, in fact, redrawn before next year’s midterm elections, the result could have national implications. New districts could give Democrats a boost in competitive, Republican-held districts just outside Philadelphia as they push to take control of the U.S. House. “It’s something that has broad national implications,” said Michael Li, senior redistrict counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
The high court’s 4-3 vote overturned a decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pelligrini, who last month ordered a stay in the league’s suit pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case out of Wisconsin. But the league asked the state high court to fast-track the case. In agreeing to do so Thursday, the court employed a power it rarely used. “They reserve it for cases that are of great public importance,” McKenzie said. “This is exactly the kind of case that’s meant for the Supreme Court to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction.”
Experts view Pennsylvania as one of the nation’s most gerrymandered states, with congressional and legislative boundaries drawn to partisan advantage. While Pennsylvania’s voters are fairly evenly split between the parties, Republicans have 13 of the state’s 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tests suggest the map is intentionally designed to favor Republicans.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/gerrymandering-suit-can-proceed-pa-supreme-court-rules-20171109.html
PA has more registered Democrats than Republicans by > 800,000 voters (and where there are just over 700,000 indies). Yet of the 18 Congressional Districts, 13 are GOP and only 5 are Democratic.
Because of this, PA suddenly gets called a "red state" when it isn't.
The hope is that if we can win this, the lines would have to be redrawn before the 2018 election. Technically if there was a fair distribution it should be 10 Dem to 8 GOP... and as a note, the PA State Supreme Court is now majority Democrat as of the last election for judges.
