‌Let The Redistricting Wars Begin

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Our once-a-decade dance is underway. The census is in, and that means the redistricting wars have been supplied with their ammunition. Will Congress act in time? Will Mike Lindell ever be satisfied? That and more below.

 

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Alright, let’s dig in.

Census Data!

The numbers are in, and the fight begins.

 

Now that the Census Bureau has released detailed population data from the 2020 census, attention turns to its primary use: Allocating congressional seats and drawing districts.

 

Though the national survey showed population surges around large (and mostly blue) cities, Republicans control a majority of state legislatures — and therefore the surgical scalpels necessary to slice up congressional districts in their own favor. Notably, non-Hispanic whites fell about 6 points as a percentage of total population, while the U.S. Hispanic population grew from 16.3% to 18.7%.

 

We’ve got an early lawsuit out of the gate:

 

• “On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce delivered census-block results of the 2020 Census to Wisconsin’s Governor and legislative leaders. These data confirm the inevitable reality that population shifts that occurred during the last decade have rendered Wisconsin’s state legislative and congressional districts unconstitutionally malapportioned,” Six Democratic plaintiffs in Wisconsin alleged.

 

The suit asked the federal court in Wisconsin’s western district to intervene, in part because “the partisan division among Wisconsin’s political branches makes it extremely unlikely that they will pass lawful legislative or congressional redistricting plans in time to be implemented during the upcoming 2022 election.”

 

This is just a hint at what’s to come: Waves of litigation aimed at convincing courts that poorly-drawn districts are unconstitutional. And this time, states with histories of racial discrimination don’t need to “preclear” changes to district maps with the federal government, as a result of the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act in 2013.
 

Pressure on Congress

Congress has left Washington, D.C., leaving whatever action they may take on voting rights until September, at earliest. Can they get anything done? Voting rights advocates are holding on to hope, but urging a shift in priorities for the Biden administration.

 

• “President Biden needs to make it very clear as a leader of the Democratic party that this is his priority, this is what we’re focusing on — just as he did with the American Rescue Plan, which passed, just as he did with the infrastructure bill, which just passed,”  Morgan, director of the Declaration for American Democracy, told TPM’s Kate Riga. “He made those things a priority and got it done.”

 

So yes, this is about Democratic strategy. But it’s worth remembering: Republicans are blocking everything they can get their hands on. And even with filibuster reform, the Supreme Court may shoot down new voting laws.

 

If Democrats have any shot at blocking partisan gerrymandering — and failure to do so could box them out of winnable elections and control of the House — they need to act fast. Some reforms are already off the table, experts told Kate. But much can still be done … if Democrats can find a way to convince Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) that the threat to democracy is more important than maintaining the filibuster.  

 

US Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee Monday morning about the dangers of life under a butchered Voting Rights Act: “On behalf of the Attorney General, we ask Congress to pass appropriate legislation that will restore and improve the Voting Rights Act, enhancing the Department’s ability to protect the right to vote in the twenty-first century and beyond,” she wrote in prepared remarks.

 

From the outside, a pressure campaign forms: Activists are planning marches across the country for Aug. 28, the 58th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. 

Around The States

TEXAS Democrats still face the prospect of arrest for fleeing the state. See for yourself what that might look like, now that the warrants have been signed by House Speaker Dade Phelan (R). Law enforcement has begun making house calls.

 

Texas Republicans, meanwhile, have passed a new version of their voting restrictions measure out of the state Senate after a 15-hour filibuster from Sen. Carol Alvarado (D). Alvarado told the Washington Post she received advice from former State Sen. Wendy Davis (D).

 

• “It was little things, like, ‘Did you have any issues with your catheter?’” said the current senator, on the advice she received from Davis.

 

Over in Fulton County, GEORGIA, the county’s voter registration chief, Ralph Jones, has stepped down following intense statewide pressure — including the prospect of being replaced as a result of the new voting measure Republicans passed in the state earlier this year.

 

• “Jones was targeted with violent threats and he reported strangers knocking on the door of the home where he and his family live,” WABE reports.

The Latest In Audit Mania

We simply have to start with Mike Lindell: The pillow magnate has promised for months to present evidence at a symposium in Sioux Falls that China hacked the U.S. election last year.

 

The symposium ended Thursday with no such evidence. But it did demonstrate the extent of elected Republican officials’ buy-in: At the end of the conference, VIRGINIA State Sen. Amanda Chase (R) asked every other state representative to come to the front of the room and identify themselves, for the purpose of forming some sort of nationwide election integrity caucus. I counted 26 state legislators, and that likely doesn’t count the legislators who didn’t stay the full three days. All for Mike Lindell!

 

• One symposium attendee, a county clerk from Colorado, is now being investigated for potentially facilitating the leak of sensitive election material to QAnon grifter Ron Watkins. We have that crazy story here.

 

I reported earlier this week on Arise USA, a bizarre road trip combining the idea of “constitutional” sheriffs — those who believe their authority supersedes the state and federal government — and hard-core conspiracy theorists of the 9/11-truther variety. It’s also become a forum for advocates to spread the gospel of 2020 election audits.

 

Here as well, what struck me was the level of buy-in: Sheriffs, a state legislator and prominent right-wing activists have all spoken on the tour about their audit boosterism. Alas, the nationwide jaunt has now been severely impeded by an alleged six-figure theft.

 

In PENNSYLVANIA, still no word from State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) about his threatened subpoenas to three counties for election materials. But one of those counties — rural, conservative Tioga — has basically begged Mastriano to stop, fearing the expense of complying with the madness. 

MIT Technology Review: Mathematicians are deploying algorithms to stop gerrymandering

 

Washington Post: ‘We are in harm’s way’: Election officials fear for their personal safety amid torrent of false claims about voting

 

Associated Press: Experts: False claims on voting machines obscure real flaws

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