By John Q. Hosedrinker 
A federal judge has mandated that Mississippi redraw its Supreme Court electoral map due to its detrimental impact on the voting power of Black residents. The court found the current map, in place since 1987, violated the Voting Rights Act by splitting the Delta region, a historically Black area, and diminishing its influence. This ruling, supported by the ACLU, highlights a historic injustice and will necessitate the Mississippi Legislature to create a new map before future elections. It may serve as a precedent for challenging similar maps nationwide, emphasizing the importance of fair representation and equal voting rights for all Mississippians.
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Federal Judge Orders Mississippi to Redraw Supreme Court Map Over Voting Rights Violations
Here’s the deal: a federal judge has told Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court map because it violates voting rights. This is the kind of thing that shouldn’t even need a lawsuit, but here we are. The Mississippi chapter of the ACLU backed the suit, highlighting how the current map splits the Delta region, a historically Black area, and thus diminishes its voting power. Essentially, it’s about making sure Black voters have a fair say in shaping the state’s future. A win that rights a historical injustice.
I’m reminded of what’s been going on in Ohio. The courts there have repeatedly told our state reps to redraw the maps. Did they listen? Nope. They played the “make us” game and the system fell apart. We’ve had elections using illegal maps, even a special election that went against the state constitution, and nothing really changed. Now they’re talking about gerrymandering *more* to eliminate the few blue counties we have left. History seems to be repeating itself.
And let’s not forget the sneaky tactics. Ohioans voted to outlaw gerrymandering, but the Republicans basically wrote the bill to say the exact opposite. They even put up fake signs claiming that voting for Issue One would stop gerrymandering when it would, in fact, protect it. Talk about misleading. My guess is Mississippi will follow suit, just like every other conservative state. They’ll ignore the ruling, keep using the illegal maps, and the whole cycle will just keep rolling. It’s all about disenfranchising voters, plain and simple. It’s disgusting and has no place in our legal system, yet here we are.
Now, Mississippi is only 55% white and has a growing mixed-race population. It makes zero sense that the state is run solely by the same old group of rich, white men. I can’t help but wonder how long before this thing winds up in front of the right-wing Supreme Court. Here’s a thought: maybe expanding Congress to its proper size would help. Currently, each representative is supposed to represent about 100,000 to 125,000 people, but now they represent over 600,000. The 1911 Apportionment Act capped Congress at 435 members, and it’s just never worked, creating the gerrymandering mess we see today. Imagine, if we had 3,310 members of Congress. Sure, it would be complex. But at the very least it would mean that the constituents can actually be properly represented. My approach would be to increase the membership of the House to 3,310 members, greatly decrease the power of the Senate and transfer many of the Senate responsibilities to the increased House.
The whole situation has a certain predictability to it. The lawsuit was filed back in April 2022, claiming the map reduced the voting strength of Black residents in the Central District. The map’s already been used in two elections. What if people could choose what district their vote counts from? It’s a long shot, but eventually, the ruling could get overturned on appeal. There’s a very high probability that Mississippi will respond with the classic: “We couldn’t figure out a map you’d like, and now the election is too close, can we just use the illegal one?”
It’s a pattern. Judges need to get smarter. They should rule, “You must have new, legal maps, and if you don’t come up with something in six months, *I’ll* make one for you.”
The maps themselves aren’t even that bad-looking, and the districts haven’t changed since the 80s. But, that actually benefits Black voters in the Central District since that district has fewer people than the others. With 49.5% Black residents, it’s thought that if these voters actually participated in the polls, they could elect whomever they want. There’s no evidence that boundaries were drawn to prefer some race over another, and at best it will drive a wedge between the districts. The other 2 districts could end up playing “us vs. them” and we could end up in a 6-3 court split which provides no practical difference to how the court is now. It will further entrench racial tensions to have mandatory segregated districts like that. It’s crazy that we even need courtrooms to enforce basic voting rights. Lawsuits take time and this strategy of delay is what the people who gerrymander are banking on. The measure on the ballot in Ohio last time was done so dirty by the government with the ballot language. I saw yard signs that said a Yes vote stops gerrymandering and then next door yard signs that said No votes stop gerrymandering..the government purposely made the ballot language as misleading as possible and I will always hate them for it.
This kind of manipulation can’t continue. If the other side cheats, then we need to cheat too. The truth is that those in power are playing a rigged game. Don’t play their game! The government only exists at the behest of the will of the people, and it’s time people realized that.
There are 542 federally elected officials in the US, and the military only makes up 0.02% of the population. The population of a single state outnumbers that force. They have no power, US citizens just can’t fathom that.
The pessimist in me sees the Ohio debacle, the messed-up districts in North Carolina, and the same pattern repeating. The optimist sees the overrulings in Alabama and Louisiana, which lead to forcefully redrawn districts. It’s the perfect gerrymander-like state. If every individual allocated their vote strategically, then each person would only vote in the most competitive districts and it would never be beneficial to vote in a district where “your” desired party is already winning.
They’re literally anti-Democracy. It’s ironic that they call themselves patriots while undermining everything the US was meant to be. Yep, both Dems and Reps claimed voting the way they said to vote would end gerrymandering. Turns out the people listened to the Reps, got duped, and somehow weren’t even mad that they got duped.