Gerrymandering: the intentional redrawing of the boundaries of electoral districts to create an unfair political advantage for one party or group.
On 29 April 2026, a SCOTUS ruling struck down Louisiana's congressional district map. A ruling that ultimately resulted in the gutting of the landmark Voting Rights Act. The court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais ruled that Louisiana's congressional district map, including two predominantly Black voting districts, relied too heavily on race, and therefore constituted racist gerrymandering. The decision greatly weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as it makes challenges to racist gerrymandering even more difficult. Plaintiffs are now required to prove that maps are drawn with racist intent, as opposed to proving racial discrimination in the map's outcome. In other words, it is no longer sufficient to prove gerrymandering by pointing out that new congressional district boundaries dilute the non-white constituency. This means states have been given permission to gerrymander, as long as they don't say the not-so-quiet racist voter disenfranchisement intention part out loud.
Gerrymandering occurs when voting district maps permit politicians and political parties to choose their voters, rather than letting voters choose their politicians. It often operates via two strategies:
- "Cracking," wherein unified communities or opposition voting blocs are split, and their power to effect change via the ballot is diluted.
- "Packing," wherein lines are redrawn to concentrate opposition voting blocs into specific districts to upend the power of surrounding districts.
Gerrymandering in the South is largely an attempt to secure Republican dominance in federal and state congressional elections in this year's crucial midterm elections. The years-long crusade to redraw congressional district maps is especially crucial now, as the GOP faces growing disfavor across the political spectrum following two years of ICE raids, social service rollbacks, favoring the ultra-rich and corporations, and a deeply unfavored war in Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine. In lieu of concessions to bring its own "America First" MAGA constituency back into alignment with the party, or cede ground to the liberal, progressive, or radical left opposition, the Republicans have leaned into good ole fashioned voter repression, propaganda, Black disenfranchisement, carcerality, and state terror to maintain its stronghold. This is the Southern strategy, a tactic that has served white supremacist, right-wing agendas since the crushing of Radical Reconstruction in the 19th century.
While racial gerrymandering is typically a strategy associated with the Republican Party's right-wing voter repression tactics, the Democrats have launched their own redistricting campaigns to gain much-needed political ground in the 2026 federal, state, and local midterm races. Virginia's Democrats led the pack by successfully securing a referendum that allowed Virginians to vote on permitting a special mid-decade redistricting process that, if enacted, would possibly shift the state's eleven congressional districts from its current 6-5 GOP majority to a 10-1 majority for the Dems. The effort was, however, defeated on May 8 despite the people's vote, after the state supreme court ruled that state lawmakers failed to comply with the state's public notice parameters before placing the amendment on the spring ballot. The decision tanked many Democratic candidates' campaigns after the decision rendered their races' new districts unlawful and nonexistent.
Let Us Explain: Sportswashing
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While Virginia and Utah both failed to replace their Republican dominated maps, California Democrats successfully adopted a new map that could deliver up to five new congressional seats for the Dems. California's efforts were done in response to Texas, an innovator in all things state violence and repression, redrawing its map to deliver up to five new districts for the GOP. While the map was blocked in November 2025 by a federal court that had ruled it gerrymandered, Justice Samuel Alito granted the state's request to pause the court decision and temporarily permit the map's use in the 2026 primary. On April 27, SCOTUS overturned the lower court's decision, making the map permanent.
Like Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization with abortion trigger laws, Louisiana v. Callais sparked a wave of states approving past proposed gerrymandered maps across the South. In Mississippi, the vote overturned the progress made when Dyamone White filed and won a lawsuit challenging the existing map on grounds it violates the Voting Rights Act. In the immediate aftermath of Louisiana v. Callais, Louisiana's Governor Landry moved to suspend the state's US House primary election the day after the SCOTUS decision. In Tennessee, the state called a special legislative session to become the first of many southern states to pass a new congressional district map intentionally gerrymandered to dilute predominantly Black congressional districts. The new map now divides Memphis's, once Tennessee's single predominantly Black district, into three majority white districts to reflect the conservative state legislators' vision of a white, conservative state. Alabama's Republican lawmakers approved a plan to hold new primaries if the state is permitted to enact the gerrymandered map passed in 2023, but never enacted. Three days later, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Yellowhammer state's adoption of a new map that is set to eliminate one of the state's two Black voting districts. On May 26, a panel of three federal judges blocked the attempt, ruling in favor of the 2023 decision declaring it was drawn with racially discriminatory intent, and is therefore unconstitutional.
Mississippi, like Alabama and Tennessee, moved to call a special session to pass its amended congressional district map, and in the meantime, filed an injunction to prevent the use of the current districts in the state primary race. In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 369, a piece of legislation that makes all elections in metro Atlanta's Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton counties nonpartisan, except for the sheriff and coroner's races. In elections where partisanship is not made explicit, Republicans tend to win. The counties impacted by this change are Democratic strongholds, many of which have flipped blue or purple in the last decade as gentrification and southern migration have increased the non-white and progressive populations in many metro Atlanta suburbs.
These decisions have, however, been contested by the people, legislators, and organizations dedicated to preserving voting rights in the South. After aligning with people's protests during the redistricting special session, Tennessee State House Representatives Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and Justin Jones (D-Nashville), along with their fellow Democratic representatives, were stripped of their committee appointments. In Louisiana, the state ACLU filed suit seeking a restraining order against Governor Landry's election suspension that was denied in early May. Federal judges are set to review the map that has since been signed into law again, two weeks after the challenge's announcement on June 3. Similar legal challenges have been filed in all southern states contesting new maps. In addition to legal support, southerners have mobilized in protest of the attack on voting rights. On May 16, the NAACP, in coalition with a number of social justice organizations, mobilized thousands of Black voters to Montgomery, AL for the All Roads Lead to the South national day of action. Following that action, the larger antifascist movement continues to organize communities around participating in the primary and midterm elections in hopes that high voter turnout will salvage elections for the GOP's opposition despite the diluted representation.
Because gerrymandering and voter suppression are strategies used to disenfranchise Black, nonwhite, poor, non-Conservative, and otherwise marginalized voters in the South for generations, Scalawag has an extensive archive of coverage related to the issue. As a movement media publication, we are committed to working in coalition with the progressive and radical press working to cover repression and censorship in the region and beyond. Here's a list of pieces on the recent history of voter repression and gerrymandering in the South published by Scalawag and our comrade platforms:
From Scalawag
In "As The South Votes," we talk about what's working, what's not, and what lessons Southern organizers have learned in their efforts to make the region we love a more just place.
"Since the end of Reconstruction, voter suppression has been a tool of white supremacy in the South.
With new political maps in place that are likely to limit the Black vote, we face more of the same in the 2022 election. That's why Scalawag and Anoa Changa are teaming back up for a new podcast series covering Southern communities working to drive change at the ballot box and beyond."
Texas' oldest Black university was built on a former plantation. Its students still fight a legacy of voter suppression.
Jayla Allen was her family's third generation to attend Prairie View A&M University. She inherited a battle for voting rights in Waller County extending before her grandfather's time at the Southeast Texas college.
1.8 million eligible North Carolina voters didn't cast ballots in 2020. Trump won the state by 74,481.
For Troy Culbertson from Salisbury, his reason for not voting is deeper than candidate likeability or political affiliation. He doesn't believe voting helps the Black community.
To prevent abhorrent state-run voter suppression and police brutality, look to local action beyond election years
Law enforcement's justification of an attack on voters and others peacefully demonstrating based on their failure to immediately disperse after a moment of silence is not a new example of voter suppression in North Carolina.
Voter intimidation: 'If they can bring a gun, I can bring my camera'
Alongside widespread concerns with the processing of mail-in ballots, voters across the South are preparing to reckon with a new threat on Election Day: Right-wing, armed poll-watchers.
New Tennessee law surfaces the South's racist beginnings of felon voter disenfranchisement
A decades-old debate over whether to keep a bust of the former Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard in Tennessee's State Capitol sparks a new law excavating the South's racist history with voter suppression.
Tennessee GOP used shady tactics to railroad a voter suppression bill into law
The only way to pass this monstrosity was to disguise it.
A rare victory against voter disenfranchisement in North Carolina
A small precinct ran out of ballots for voters from the mostly-Black part of town. The Black candidate lost by three votes. Now, a court has called a rerun.
From Our Publishing partners and comrades:
By Katherine Burgess, for MLK50
A hastily called special session could eliminate the state's only reliably Democratic district. County commissioners are moving fast to fill the vacancy.
By Natalie Wallington and Katherine Burgess, for MLK50
Some voters remember the creation of District 9, the majority-Black congressional seat representing Memphis. Now, they're seeing it taken away by Tennessee Republicans.
Tennessee House speaker suspends all Dems from committees, citing decorum violation
by Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout
Tennessee's Republican House speaker is punishing Democrats for participating in a chaotic end to the special session lawmakers used to redraw congressional maps to bolster a GOP candidate in the midterm election… Minority leader says it's like being 'stabbed in the back'
'We're Not Going Back': Black Voters March in Alabama Against Redistricting
By Alecia Taylor, CapitalB News
Black Southerners mobilize across Selma and Montgomery against the direct attacks on voting protections.
Black Alabama Voters Lose Again as Supreme Court Greenlights Map
By Brandon Tensley, CapitalB News
To Democrats, the redistricting effort in Alabama is nothing short of a death sentence to Black political power in the state.
Louisiana Republicans Cut Black Voting Power With New House Map
By Brandon Tensley and Adam Mahoney, CapitalB News
The district was established in 2024 and gave Black residents an opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice.
Black Women Are Turning the Supreme Court Ruling Into a Battle Cry
By Aallyah Wright, CapitalB News
Thousands plan to descend on Alabama on Saturday in a fight to protect voting rights and Black political power.
Black Voters in the South Want Leaders Who Fight but Also Deliver
By Brandon Tensley, CapitalB News
Lawmakers who force national conversations become symbols of resistance — though constituents also want that visibility to translate into tangible gains.
Tennessee's War on Black Political Power Demands Not Just Outrage But Resistance
By Earle J. Fisher, TruthOut
The struggle isn't just about surviving the next election — we must secure civil rights for the next generation.
by Biplob Kumar Das, Prism Reports
Last week's decision in a Louisiana redistricting case found that the law's electoral protections for racial minorities cannot prevent the state from partisan gerrymandering
The Equity Docket: Black Americans' Stolen Past
By Terrance Sullivan, The Progressive
The ultimate voter suppression is a peoples' systematic destruction, displacement, and erasure.
How Democrats Can Still Win the Redistricting War by 2028
By Ari Berman, Mother Jones
It's possible to draw 20 new Blue districts before the next presidential election.