This article was originally published by WSMV
By Stuart Rucker
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The League of Women Voters joined with the NAACP and other civil rights organizations to challenge Tennessee’s recently redistricted congressional maps in federal court.
The League of Women Voters is listed as a plaintiff in this suit. The organization said they are fighting to, “protect voters from racially discriminatory maps that dilute political representation and weaken democracy for Tennessee communities.”
This lawsuit alleges that Tennessee’s redistricting of the state’s only Black-majority district in Memphis and Shelby County fractures Black communities for partisan and racial advantages.
A state court has already denied a request for an injunction at the state level regarding redistricting.
“Tennessee voters deserve districts that reflect their communities and protect equal representation,” said Debby Gould, President of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee. “Instead, this map intentionally fractures communities and weakens the voices of black and brown voters in Memphis/Shelby County for partisan advantage.”
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that this map change was pushed through the legislative process in less than 48 hours, with little transparency or public input.
“By dismantling communities and manipulating district lines for political advantage, this map undermines the core promise of our democracy: that every voter’s voice carries equal weight,” Marcia Johnson, chief of activation and justice for the League of Women Voters said.
On May 13, several Tennessee State Democrats were removed from their House committee assignments by Speaker Sexton.
“This lawsuit goes to the heart of our democracy,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. “Tennessee lawmakers made a deliberate choice to silence Black voters by dismantling a district that has long ensured representation for one of the state’s largest Black populations. We are at the dawn of a new Jim Crow era. People fought and died for the representation that lawmakers across the South are so casually eroding.”
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