March 26th marks the anniversary of the landmark Rucho v. League of Women Voters of North Carolina (also known as Rucho v. Common Cause) Supreme Court oral arguments. This case challenged North Carolina’s 2016 redistricting plan as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

The US Supreme Court ruled that no fair test exists for courts to determine when partisan gerrymandering has gone too far. As a result, federal courts are hands-off in the redistricting process, even when new district lines are drawn to intentionally decrease the voting power of voters based solely on their political party.  

To fully grasp how this impacts voters, LWVUS spoke with Allison Riggs, who was front and center on the Rucho v. LWVNC case. In 2019, Mrs. Riggs was chosen to represent the plaintiffs and argued the case before the Supreme Court. She gave us her first-hand account of what happened in the courts.

The LWV launched People Powered Fair Maps™ in September 2019 to create fair and transparent, people-powered redistricting processes that eliminate partisan and racial gerrymandering nationwide.

What's Next?

The League will continue its litigation in challengine unfair maps and is already looking ahead to the 2031 redistricting process.

Leading up to the next census and redistricting cycle, LWV is focusing on advancing civic education so more people are aware of and can get involved in redistricting. In this way, we hope to build maps that are truly people-powered.