GOP ‘Colorblind’ Map Drawing Tactic Tests Voting Rights Act (1)

Republican lawmakers redrawing states’ political lines are adopting a “colorblind” redistricting strategy aimed at inoculating maps against Democratic lawsuits that argue they dilute minority voting power.

The strategy, already used in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Arkansas, seeks to protect Republican maps from lawsuits brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by drawing lines using partisan voting data and not considering racial data.

Republicans argue that the increase in recent years in Black U.S. House members representing White-majority districts means racially polarized voting is on the decline and therefore districts no longer must be drawn with racial considerations. ...