Judges tell Mississippi lawmakers to redraw three districts that limit black voters' influence

Three federal judges told Mississippi lawmakers to redraw lines around state legislative districts late Tuesday night, because current districts in three areas of the state do not give enough power to black voters.

The Mississippi lawmakers will not need to create any new districts, but will need to adjust existing lines to make majority-black Senate districts in and around DeSoto County in the northwest, in and around Hattiesburg in the south, and a new majority-black House district in Chickasaw and Monroe counties in the northeast, according to the Associated Press.

Black voters and the Mississippi State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a lawsuit against the state over the districts in 2022. 

“This is an important victory for Black Mississippians to have an equal and fair opportunity to participate in the political process without their votes being diluted,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Jennifer Nwachukwu, said in a statement Wednesday. “This ruling affirms that the voices of Black Mississippians matter and should be reflected in the state Legislature.”

The new order does not affect the districts in the U.S. House and Senate.

Under the 2022 legislative redistricting plan, which was based on the 2020 Census, 15 of the 52 state Senate districts and 42 of the 122 House districts are majority black, which represent 29% of Senate districts and 34% of House districts. The state, however, is 59% white and 38% black.

The state attorney general's office said it was still reviewing the order and has not indicated whether it will appeal it. But a lawyer for the state told the judges that voter behavior is driven by party affiliation, not race.

The ruling comes after state lawmakers in Louisiana were forced to redraw two majority black House districts in January, because the previous drawing also diluted black voting power. Black voters in Louisiana make up approximately one-third of the state's population.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.