The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 6, 2025
You may think racial gerrymandering happened long ago and just in southern states with legacies of suppressing of African Americans. Think again. Anti-voter legislatures around the country still employ racial gerrymandering to retain political power.
In addition to recent racial gerrymandering cases involving African Americans in Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Arkansas, there have been multiple racial gerrymandering complaints from Native Americans in North Dakota, and Hispanic Americans in Washington State and Texas.
To provide equity in representation, the Voting Rights Act’s Section 2 allows districts of dense populations of minority voters to choose the candidate of their choice. But elected officials continue to evade those rules.
South Carolina’s legislature split Charleston by moving 30,000 residents from 11 of 12 of the highest concentrations of Black voters into another district, in the words of the lower court, “bleaching” Congressional District 1.
Louisiana’s population is almost 33% Black. But Louisiana’s legislature defiantly drew only one of its six Congressional districts as a majority-minority Black district, diluting the rest of their vote. A county in North Dakota elected its commissioners at large, to reduce the chance of a Native American candidate being elected.
Tomorrow, we’ll tell you how some states prohibit gerrymandering and create fair maps. I’m Brian Beihl.
Legal Defense Fund – Why Race Matters in Redistricting
National Archives – Voting Rights Act (1965)
American Democracy Minute – (2024) Federal Court Releases Redistricting New WA Maps After Striking Down Districts Diluting Latino Voting Power
American Democracy Minute – (2023) U.S. Supreme Court Finds South Carolina Gerrymandering Case ‘Bleaching’ Congressional District Not Racially Motivated
American Democracy Minute – (2022) Native American Tribe Unrigs Voting in its County with Court Redistricting Decision
Redistricting Online – Racial Gerrymandering
Groups Taking Action:
Campaign Legal Center, Legal Defense Fund, NARF, LULAC
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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