Test Archives | American Democracy Minute A 90 second radio news report & podcast on U.S. democracy issues Tue, 07 May 2024 16:04:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://i0.wp.com/www.americandemocracyminute.org/wethepeople/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AmericanDemocracyMinuteLogo3_sm.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Test Archives | American Democracy Minute 32 32 204031415 What is the ‘Gingles Test’ and How Does it Impact Minority Voting Rights? https://www.americandemocracyminute.org/wethepeople/2024/05/07/what-is-the-gingles-test-and-how-does-it-impact-minority-voting-rights/ Tue, 07 May 2024 15:39:24 +0000 https://www.americandemocracyminute.org/wethepeople/?p=3385 From the American Democracy Minute Radio Report!

Today, we’re looking at a principle called the “Gingles Test” that federal courts use  when determining whether a gerrymandered redistricting map is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.   How that test is interpreted can determine whether minority voters can elect the candidate of their choice, or their vote is diluted by an anti-voter state legislature.

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From the American Democracy Minute Radio Report!



Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Today, we’re looking at a principle called the “Gingles Test” that federal courts use  when determining whether a gerrymandered redistricting map is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.   How that test is interpreted can determine whether minority voters can elect the candidate of their choice, or their vote is diluted by an anti-voter state legislature.

A group of Black voters sued the North Carolina legislature in 1982, arguing their voting districts violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by diluting their vote and keeping Black North Carolinians from electing the candidate of their choice.   

Before it came to trial, Congress clarified the VRA to say intentional discrimination didn’t need to be proved, just the EFFECT of discrimination was enough to be a violation of Section 2.

Thornburg v. Gingles created a three part test for federal courts to use when considering whether a VRA violation had occurred.  It stipulates:

  • The minority group is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district;
  • The minority group is politically cohesive, usually voting the same way; and 
  • The white majority votes sufficiently as a bloc, usually defeating the minority’s preferred candidate.

As shown in the recent overturning of Louisiana’s new Congressional map with a second majority minority district, the interpretation of “geographically compact” and “politically cohesive” still leaves wiggle room for discrimination.  

We have more on Gingles and the VRA at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia – Thornburg v. Gingles
Charis Franklin, Fordham University Law – From Poll Tests To The Purcell Doctrine:  Merrill V. Milligan And The Precarious Preservation Of Voting Rights
The American Redistricting Project – Thornburg v. Gingles (1986)
Brennan Center for Justice – Breaking Down the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Out of Alabama
Louisiana Illuminator – Federal court tosses Landry-backed Louisiana congressional map

Groups Taking Action:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Legal Center, ACLU, Native American Rights Fund


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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #VRA


The post What is the ‘Gingles Test’ and How Does it Impact Minority Voting Rights? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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New Mexico Redistricting Case One of the First to Employ a Partisan Gerrymandering Test Proposed by U.S. Supreme Court’s Justice Kagan https://www.americandemocracyminute.org/wethepeople/2023/08/28/new-mexico-redistricting-case-one-of-the-first-to-employ-a-partisan-gerrymandering-test-proposed-by-u-s-supreme-courts-justice-kagan/ Mon, 28 Aug 2023 16:19:35 +0000 https://www.americandemocracyminute.org/wethepeople/?p=1971 From the American Democracy Minute Radio Report!

An unusual New Mexico redistricting case reaches a state district court next month. Unusual in that it’s Republicans claiming that Democrats did the partisan gerrymandering, but also that it will be one of the first cases to employ a partisan gerrymandering test suggested by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

The post New Mexico Redistricting Case One of the First to Employ a Partisan Gerrymandering Test Proposed by U.S. Supreme Court’s Justice Kagan appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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From the American Democracy Minute Radio Report!

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 29, 2023



Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

An unusual New Mexico redistricting case reaches a state district court next month.  Unusual in that it’s Republicans claiming that Democrats did the partisan gerrymandering, but also that it will be one of the first cases to employ a partisan gerrymandering test suggested by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. 

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled in Common Cause v. Rucho that partisan gerrymandering was a political matter and ceded authority to the states.   In her dissent, Justice Kagan recommended a three-part test to determine whether redistricting was in fact partisan gerrymandering.  

Kagan said courts should ask first whether the mapmakers intended to entrench their party’s power by diluting votes of the opposing party. Second, by analyzing past maps, asking whether they succeeded.  And third, comparing the contested map with maps using established fair criteria and asking mapmakers to defend their suspect maps. 

The New Mexico Supreme Court advised its lower court to employ this test to determine whether Democrats exceeded the “reasonable” amount of partisan gerrymandering as allowed in Article II, Section 18 of the state constitution when redistricting the state’s 2nd Congressional District.  If adopted by other courts, it could help curb partisan gerrymandering where state constitutions forbid it. The District Court trial begins September 27th. 

We have articles and court briefs on the case at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – New Mexico Congressional Redistricting Challenge
U.S. Supreme Court – Common Cause v. Rucho
NM Political Report – Gerrymandering case will move forward
Democracy Docket – New Mexico Supreme Court Rules That State Courts Can Review Partisan Gerrymandering Claims
NM Political Report – Watchdog groups file brief in congressional gerrymandering case
NM 5th Judicial Distict Court – Brief by Election Reformers Network, Common Cause New Mexico, and the League of Women Voters New Mexico
SEAN P. TRENDE  – Amicus brief by redistricting legal expert

Groups Taking Action:

Election Reformers Network, Common Cause New Mexico, and the League of Women Voters New Mexico


Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!
#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FairMaps #StopGerrymandering

The post New Mexico Redistricting Case One of the First to Employ a Partisan Gerrymandering Test Proposed by U.S. Supreme Court’s Justice Kagan appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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