Supreme Court Hands Red State a Victory – Strikes Down Democrat Voting Map Accusation in KS
By Ben Dutka|March 29, 2023
Supreme Court Hands Red State a Victory – Strikes Down Democrat Voting Map Accusation in KS

With campaigns already heating up for the 2024 presidential election, one topic still weighs heavily on American minds: election integrity, and political maneuvers to gain the edge on both sides.

Recently, Kansas Democrats accused the GOP-led state legislature of “political gerrymandering” after they passed a redistricting law in May 2022.

They tried to take their case to the Supreme Court — but the highest court in the land has dismissed it.

After the law passed, Democrats issued an appeal of the legislation passed by the Kansas Supreme Court, which was challenged by 11 voters.

The challengers claimed the new congressional map was “racially gerrymandered,” and it appeared to give Republicans an unfair advantage in elections. This is a common complaint when maps are redrawn.

But SCOTUS said they won’t bother reviewing the law (via Fox News):

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t review a congressional redistricting law enacted by the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature that some voters and Democrats saw as political gerrymandering.

Ironically, while Democrats complained that the new congressional map gave the GOP an advantage, the state’s only Democrat Congress representative still won her race last November by an easy margin (12 points).

The other reason leftist politicians don’t like the law is because it moved a highly liberal city – Lawrence – into a district heavily dominated by Republicans.

From a legal standpoint, there isn’t anything special about the issue: The Legislature has to redraw political boundaries at least once every 10 years, so they can be sure the populations are as equal as possible.

As for whether or not the state should allow partisan gerrymandering, that’s a little more complicated.

The Kansas Supreme Court said in a narrow 4-3 decision that the state does allow it, so partisan factors can be considered when making the new maps. Of course, this means the party in charge has an advantage.

However, in this case, the nation’s high court doesn’t see a problem with the new Kansas congressional map.

So for the foreseeable future, it looks like the traditionally red state will continue to lean conservative, and the redrawn maps should help keep it that way.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by Kansas Democrats, who accused the state GOP of “racially gerrymandering.”
  • They claimed the redrawing of the congressional maps gave Republicans an unfair advantage.
  • SCOTUS dismissed the accusation, though, and Kansas does allow some partisan gerrymandering.

Source: Fox News



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Ben Dutka
Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.
Ben S. Dutka is a journalist, writer and editor with over two decades of experience. He has worked with three newspapers and eight online publications, and he has also won a Connecticut short story contest entitled Art as Muse, Imaginary Realms. He has a penchant for writing, rowing, reading, video games, and Objectivism.


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