Equal Voting Rights Require Removing Race and Partisan Discrimination from Elections and Legislative Gerrymandering

• Author: L. Darnell Weeden
• Position: Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, Roberson King Professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University; B.A., J.D., University of Mississippi
• Pages: 781-806

Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review

Volume 79

Number 3

Spring 2019

Article 8

4-30-2019

Equal Voting Rights Require Removing Race and Partisan Equal Voting Rights Require Removing Race and Partisan

Discrimination from Elections and Legislative Gerrymandering Discrimination from Elections and Legislative Gerrymandering

L. Darnell Weeden

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Repository Citation Repository Citation

L. Darnell Weeden,

Equal Voting Rights Require Removing Race and Partisan Discrimination from

Elections and Legislative Gerrymandering

, 79 La. L. Rev. (2019)

Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol79/iss3/8

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital

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Equal Voting Rights Require Removing Race and

Partisan Discrimination from Elections and

Legislative Gerrymandering

L. Darnell Weeden⃰

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .................................................................................. 781

I. America Is Challenged to Reevaluate and Protect the

Fundamental Right to Vote Against Racial Targeting ................. 783

II. Race Is Too Sensitive a Factor to be Considered in

Legislative Gerrymandering ......................................................... 787

A. Easley v. Cromartie ............................................................... 787

B. Cooper v. Harris .................................................................... 794

III. Both Partisan and Racial Gerrymandering Should Be

Rejected Because There Is No Reasonable Way to

Distinguish Between the Two ...................................................... 797

A. Partisan Politics as an Illegitimate Defense Where

Race Is a Factor in Legislative Redistricting ......................... 798

B. Redistricting’s Legitimate Goal Is Fair Representation......... 800

Conclusion .................................................................................... 804

INTRODUCTION

Judge Mark Walker ruled on February 1, 2018 that Florida’s vote-

restoration process had wrongly impacted 1.5 million Floridians’ right to

vote. A Republican-led clemency board implemented this process, headed

Copyright 2019, by L. DARNELL WEEDEN.

⃰ Associate Dean for Facult y Development and Research, Roberson King

Professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University; B.A.,

J.D., University of Mississippi. I would like to acknowledge my wife and children

for their kindness as I p roduced this article. I will also like to acknowledge my

research assistant, Alfredo Ramos, Juris Doctor candidate, 2018, for his helpful

research assistance.