‘This is not democracy’: voting rights activists shocked by speed of US states moving to stifle Black voters
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and other southern states stun residents with all-out charge to redraw congressional maps to favor white voters after supreme court ruling
TL;DR
- Southern states like Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee are rapidly redrawing congressional maps after a Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v Callais.
- The actions are seen by voting rights activists as an effort to eliminate or dilute Black-majority congressional districts and maximize the political power of white voters.
- Activists describe the speed and nature of these changes as the swiftest disenfranchisement of Black voters since Reconstruction, comparing it to a 'white-lash' and retribution.
- States are amending laws, holding special sessions, and in some cases, attempting to set aside ongoing election results or primary outcomes to implement new maps.
- Legal challenges are anticipated, with some already filed, as activists and politicians argue these redistricting efforts violate constitutional rights and democratic norms.
- The symbolic use of historical buildings and legislative procedures by some states has been criticized as an attempt to legitimize actions that undermine Black political power.