A federal lawsuit has been filed to challenge portions of Tennessee's congressional and state senate redistricting maps that went into effect in 2021.
In February of last year, Davidson County was split into three congressional districts and election boundaries for Tennessee's Senate and House seats were redrawn.
The plaintiffs include the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee, the Equity Alliance, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and several individual Tennessee voters.
They allege that there's racial discrimination in the state's congressional and state senate maps. They state that the redistricting amounts to "unconstitutional racial gerrymanders".
“Tennessee’s redistricting plan greatly harms African-American voters. The plan uses a perverse approach to gerrymandering, seemingly motivated by race, that undermines the equal protection of African-Americans and dilutes the African-American vote. There is no constitutional justification for supporting the state legislature’s senate and congressional redistricting plan. Allowing these plans to survive will establish a dangerous precedent,” said Gloria Sweet-Love, President of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP.
The lawsuit also points out a lack of transparency in the state's redistricting process.
“The complaint filed today makes it plain — legislators in Tennessee have drawn the state's congressional and state senate maps to intentionally limit the political power of Black voters and other voters of color, which is completely unacceptable,” said Celina Stewart, chief counsel and senior director of advocacy and litigation at the League of Women Voters of the US. “The League will not waver when state legislatures prioritize their own interests over those of their constituents and we will fight for voters who are targeted by unconstitutional racial gerrymandering."
