This article is published by Modern Democracy Blog. Here is an excerpt:
Recent commentary on the Supreme Court’s stay order in Merrill v. Milligan has focused on what the decision portends for the future of Section 2 doctrine. But the Court’s radical expansion of Purcell threatens to sow more immediate electoral chaos as well, drastically undercutting Black representation in Congress in 2022 and playing a potentially decisive role in which party takes control of the House of Representatives. Below I explore what might be done.
The (Latest) Purcell Problem
As Merrill brings the problems with Purcell back to the fore—problems illuminated by Prof. Hasen and Prof. Codrington in their scholarship—I want to briefly highlight one more. If the conservative majority is going to apply Purcell this far out from an election, an enormous amount of pending litigation will be caught in its sweep. For redistricting litigation in particular, the consequences are easy to track and hard to deny.
If the Voting Rights Act had been enforced in Alabama, Black voters would’ve had the opportunity to elect two Members of Congress in 2022. Now they will only elect one. A similar case is pending in Georgia, where a stay order from the Supreme Court could prevent an additional Black opportunity district from being created before 2022. Another case may well arise in Louisiana. And DeSantis seems bent on dismantling a Black opportunity district in Florida too.
Read the full story here.
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