Arkansas Advocacy Groups Push for Reconsideration: Progressive advocacy groups in Arkansas are urging a full federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling by a three-judge panel that private groups cannot sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act.
The Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the Arkansas State Conference NAACP are challenging Arkansas’ new state House districts under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires political maps to include districts where minority populations’ preferred candidates can win elections.
The recent ruling stated that only the U.S. attorney general can enforce Section 2, reversing decades of precedent. The advocacy groups argue that this decision would strip voters of a crucial tool to defend their rights. They are calling for a reversal of the ruling and emphasizing the potential threat to the promise of the Voting Rights Act if private parties are unable to enforce it.
The groups contend that the ruling would make future challenges dependent on partisan politics, as the president nominates the attorney general. The request for reconsideration highlights the conflict with other appeals courts’ decisions on the issue and emphasizes Congress’s repeated reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act without questioning privately enforced cases.
The case is particularly significant as it challenges the redistricting plan approved by the all-Republican state Board of Apportionment in Arkansas, creating 11 majority-Black districts.
The advocacy groups argue that this number falls short of adequate representation and that the state could have drawn 16 majority-Black districts to better reflect the Black population. The legal battle underscores the broader struggle for fair representation in electoral processes and the potential impact of such decisions beyond the state’s borders.
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