The Crackup Of Racial Redistricting

I’m sure election law experts can make sense of the racial redistricting case from Georgia that will be heard by the Supremes next Tuesday, but, if this article from the Atlanta Constitution is even close to accurate, no one else can. (Link via Howard Bashman) Or at least I can’t.

It pits Laughlin McDonald and his Voting Rights Project of the ACLU, militant advocates of racial gerrymandering, against Georgia’s black attorney general and state senator Robert Brown, who are urging the Supreme Court to re-institute a Democratic redistricting plan opposed by the Bush administration and the state’s Republican governor.

Quotes of Note:

From the state’s brief:

“The [U.S.] Constitution and the Voting Rights Act do not guarantee victory to minority candidates, but only equal opportunity….”

From the ACLU:

The state’s “point of equal opportunity” for blacks is 44.3 percent, which McDonald argued would have a “chilling effect” on black voters and a “warming effect” on whites. “I would hope at some point, race would not be a factor,” he said. “But I don’t think we’ve reached it yet.”

If you understand why a militant voting rights group would oppose a Democratic plan defended by black Democratic elected officials, you know too much about election law.

UPDATE – If you want to learn more about this issue, take a look at this post on Election Law and the links there.

Say What? (1)

  1. Laura April 28, 2003 at 5:07 pm | | Reply

    The majority-white county I live in just elected a black mayor. I voted for him, myself. It’s wrong to assume that people are only going to vote for their race – it’s factually wrong and it’s morally wrong.

Say What?