LDF and Donati Law, PLLC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of five individual Black voters and the Fayette-Somerville Branch of the NAACP challenging the racially discriminatory Fayette County, Tennessee County Commission electoral map.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution prohibit racial discrimination in voting. Governments cannot draw maps that deny Black voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice or in a way that intentionally dilutes their voting power. Because Fayette County’s County Commission electoral map violates Section 2 and U.S. Constitution, it must be struck down and redrawn.
The Fayette County Commission allocates funding and makes important decisions about public schools, economic development, environmental policies, resources like community centers, and other critical policies and resources that impact quality-of-life issues for Fayette County residents. Without fair representation and fair maps, the needs and priorities of Fayette County’s Black community have been ignored.
NAACP Fayette-Somerville Branch v. Fayette County, Tennessee asserts that the Fayette County Commission map created during the 2021 redistricting process is racially discriminatory in violation of Section 2 of Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The map dilutes Black voting power and denies Black Fayette voters an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the County Commission.
The County Commission deviated from its guidelines to protect minority voters’ opportunity to elect their preferred candidates and failed to heed its legal counsel’s public warnings that failing to draw districts comprised of a majority-Black voters, in light of current voting patterns and other barriers facing Black voters, could expose Fayette County to legal liability. The County Commission also rejected alternative proposed plans that respected its guidelines and would have mitigated the racially discriminatory impact that community members and some County Commissioners repeatedly raised.
Instead of passing a fair, non-racially discriminatory County Commission map, Fayette County lawmakers enacted a map designed to dilute Black voting power. Even though more than 25% of Fayette County residents are Black and substantial numbers of Black voters live in geographically compact areas, none of the ten districts are majority-Black and none of the County Commissioners are Black or Black-preferred candidates. The demographics, voting patterns, and other ways that Black voters experience life in Fayette County make clear that the current map is discriminatory and denies Black voters equal opportunity to participate in the political process.
LDF has filed litigation, testified in state legislatures, submitted proposed maps, mobilized communities, and more to ensure Black voters have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
This piece explores how three states with discriminatory maps have shirked their responsibilities to their constituents, paving the way for the passage of oppressive legislation.
Understanding the role of race in the redistricting process as a means of ensuring equitable representation and political power is critical.
