On July 2, 2024, a panel of 3 Federal judges unanimously held that Mississippi’s Senate map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Black voters in the DeSoto County and Hattiesburg areas. Today, the Mississippi Senate released a map proposal, in response to the federal court order. Jarvis Dortch, ACLU of MS executive director, has issued the following response:
"After almost 8 months, the Mississippi Senate finally made public, a proposal to comply with the federal court order. The Senate Rules Committee took up and passed the remedial maps Tuesday afternoon. However, the committee voted on the plan before it was even available for the public to view online.
Although we have had little time to review the Senate plan, we see major issues with the map. We have serious doubt that the plan complies with the court’s directive to create an additional Black majority district where Black voters can choose a candidate of their choice.
The lawmakers responsible for the proposed map had ample time to engage voters in the affected communities, with the goal of drawing a map that truly restored Black voting strength. Those lawmakers chose not to.
Legislators should take the time to hear from Black voters living in the impacted communities. Impacted persons are not the legislators who may have to face voters in a special election. Impacted persons are the actual voters themselves. In this case, it’s the Black voters in and around DeSoto County and in Hattiesburg who have had their rights violated."
