The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 2, 2025

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

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

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!
Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX
#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #VRA

The post What is the ‘Gingles Test’ and How Does it Help Decide Voting Rights Act Cases? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 27, 2025

Audio for this story won’t be posted until after 10 AM Tuesday. Go here to listen.

Five years into the redistricting cycle, we’re still litigating racially gerrymandered voting maps. 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

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
  

Please follow us on Facebook and BlueSky and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #VRA

The post Courts Use the ‘Gingles Test’ to Determine Whether Redistricting Violates the Voting Rights Act appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 29, 2024

Brian’s taking some time off this week. Here’s an “eat your vegetables” report on an important court test which greatly impacts your voting rights, but which few voters know about.

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.

Federal courts often use the “Gingles Test” 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 FundCheck Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
  
  

Please follow us on Facebook and BlueSky and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#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.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 8, 2024

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

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!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#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.