The U.S. Justice Department is suing a Georgia county, alleging that its method of electing county commissioners violates the rights of Black voters. The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court asks a judge to stop Houston County from continuing to use countywide elections for each of its five commission seats.
A federal district court ruled that the new map drawn by the state legislature violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the Black vote. A group of conservatives challenged the legislature's map.
The people who sued to overturn Georgia's congressional and legislative districts are attacking plans that Republican state lawmakers claim cure illegal dilution of Black votes while preserving GOP power.
Georgia Republicans are advancing a proposed congressional map that maintains their party's 9-5 majority in the state's congressional delegation. A Senate committee voted 7- 4 along party lines on Monday to send the map to the state Senate for more debate.
A trial challenging voting district maps in Georgia has concluded, leaving a decision in the hands of a federal judge. A lawyer for the state said in closing arguments Thursday that court intervention on behalf of Black voters isn't needed. Plaintiffs say Black voters are still fighting opposition from white voters and need federal help to get a fair shot.
Alabama is once again asking the Supreme Court to let it keep Republican-drawn congressional districts. In essence, the state is fighting a court order that the high court upheld just months ago.
A judge has refused to dismiss lawsuits alleging Georgia's congressional and legislative districts illegally discriminate against Black voters. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled Monday that he could only decide disputes over the facts of the cases and the credibility of the witnesses after a full trial.
The Supreme Court has ruled against Alabama's defense of an electoral map drawn by the state's Republican-dominated legislature. Black voters had challenged the law as racially discriminatory.
People at the epicenter of the fight for voting rights six decades ago are reflecting on the times and their struggles. They're certain their struggles were worth it.
Andrew Young, one of the last surviving members of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle, recalls the journey to the signing of the Voting Rights Act as an arduous one, often marked by violence and bloodshed. Now 91, Young says voting rights have always been the vehicle for equality and notes that progress has never happened in a straight line.
The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to issue opinions in 27 cases that it heard this term, and has about four weeks left to release them. Here are the major cases NPR is watching.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision a decade ago that tossed out the heart of the Voting Rights Act continues to reverberate across the country. Republican-led states continue to pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the court left the provision intact.
Former President Jimmy Carter and fellow Georgian Martin Luther King Jr. never met during all their time in Atlanta. But the Rev. Bernice King tells The Associated Press that Carter has been a “courageous” and “principled” figure who built on her father’s work, advancing the King family's vision of racial equality and human rights.
