Virginia House Republicans defeated by Supreme Court ruling.
What We Know:
- The Supreme Court ruled against Republican delegates who appealed a lower courts ruling on a voting map created in 2011.
- A lower court ruled that the maps were drawn using racial gerrymandering.
- Gerrymandering is a tactic used to manipulate district voting lines in favor of a particular party. In this case, the maps were drawn to concentrate the African-American population into a particular district to decrease their influence across the state.
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote, “Throughout this litigation, the House has purported to represent only its own interests.”
- The justices decided 5-4 to dismiss the appeal. The redrawn maps will affect the upcoming November election.
- Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring stated, “It’s unfortunate that the House Republicans wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and months of litigation in a futile effort to protect racially gerrymandered districts, but the good news is that this fall’s elections will take place in constitutionally drawn districts.”
Let’s see how this affects the upcoming election.
