The US MAP made illegal by the Supreme Court

There is a flaw in this map.

This is a map showing the seven congressional districts in Alabama that were created by the practice of gerrymandering, which favors one political party.

GOP in this instance.

Gerrymandering frequently produces odd-looking districts that are visually noticeable, such as this... this... this...

There is a district in Alabama that somewhat resembles a dolphin.

However, until you bring in another map, the issue with this map is really far more difficult to identify.

This one displays the Black population in Alabama.

When you combine these two maps, you will find that the majority of the Black people live in one of the districts.

The US Supreme Court declared this map to be unlawful on June 8th, in a ruling that was described as "unexpected," "surprising," and a "victory for voting rights advocates."

What specifically about this map is so bad?

And why is this choice so significant?

There were other provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but there were two that stood out.

One person said that some states have to request approval from the federal government before making any changes to their voting regulations.

That section of the law was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2013.

And with no control, these places were suddenly free to enact new voting restrictions and shut down hundreds of polling places.

Many of them did as well.

The Supreme Court's decision was 5-4.

the four liberal justices lose out to the five conservative justices.

The Supreme Court has since shifted more to the right.

There are now three liberal justices and six conservative justices.

And that's bad news for Section Two of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits, broadly speaking, denying someone the ability to vote on the basis of race.

The right to vote and the ability to elect representatives have both been added to Section 2 over time.

As a result, many states have created "majority-minority districts" where a racial minority makes up more than 50% of the population.

That's what we're examining in this case.

The theory behind these districts is that they can assist minorities in electing the members of their choice, which ought to improve a state's proportional representation.

And that's where the issue with this map begins.

In Alabama, there are six districts where the majority is white and one where the majority is black.

The seven total Congressional representatives are listed here.

Out of seven districts, one is black, or roughly 14%.

However, 27% of Alabama's population, or around two out of every seven people, are black.

This is the reason some black voters sued Alabama.

The Supreme Court was asked, among other things, if more districts with a majority of minorities could be created.

Yes, that's what the court ruled.

Here is the state's Black population map once more.

You can observe two traditional gerrymandering techniques by turning the current districts back on.

One is that Black voters have been "packed" into one district in the state's western region.

Actually, this portion isn't all that evil.

It partially makes it possible to create a district with a majority of minorities in the first place.

However, if you look at the group of black voters over here, you can see that they were split across two districts, which reduced their influence in both.

The populace there has "cracked."

And resolving that wouldn't be difficult.

A mathematician showed many approaches to draw the lines that would result in two compact majority-black districts when this matter was tried in a lower court.

Likewise, the Supreme Court.

Their choice preserved the last piece of the Voting Rights Act.

Likewise, the result was 5-4, but this time, two of the conservative justices joined the liberals in voting.

The surprise came at that point.

However, the impact this choice may have outside of Alabama is what makes it such a significant matter.

Simple math and equity dictate that two of those districts must be minority districts when our state's population is one-third African American, as we know it is.

The governor of Louisiana acknowledged that Louisiana's position was extremely similar to Alabama's.

As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, Louisiana may now be required to create a second district with a majority of black residents.

Similar issues with the maps in Georgia, Florida, and Texas are currently being contested in court.

Even if only one district in any of these states changes hands, the repercussions might be profound.

Because all of those districts send representatives to the US Congress.

Which, you can't even tell from this, but it's now controlled by Republicans by a tiny margin.

Ten of 435 total votes.

If one of those seats switches parties, the margin increases to eight, the next to six, and so on.

To entirely change control of Congress, not many seats need to be switched.

Thus, the ramifications for the election of 2024 are enormous.

Why these two conservative justices decided to keep the Voting Rights Act in place is a mystery to us.

Was Alabama's argument simply exceptionally weak?

Is it a reaction to the criticism the court has received for several fairly conservative rulings?

Whatever the cause, the fact that this one state's map is now prohibited is a significant development for the entire nation. Thanks for your interest; please like and share to your friends.