Here’s another key part of Justice Edmunds’ opinion in Pender Cty. v. Bartlett. Understanding the passage requires a little background. You’ll find a key below the quotation:

Plaintiffs contend that a minority group must constitute a numerical majority of the voting population in the area under consideration before Section 2 of the VRA requires the creation of a legislative district to prevent dilution of the votes of the minority group. They point to the wording of the first Gingles precondition, which says a minority group must be “sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district,” [legal citation information deleted], and claim this language permits only majority-minority districts to be formed in response to a Section 2 claim. Defendants respond that the language of both Gingles and Section 2 allows for other types of legislative districts, such as coalition, crossover, and influence districts. House District 18, which defendants term an “effective minority district,” functions as a single-member crossover district in which the total African-American voting age population of 39.36 percent needs to draw votes from a Caucasian majority to elect the candidate of its choice. Defendants contend such a crossover district is permitted under Section 2 and Gingles.

Our analysis leads us to the conclusion that plaintiff’s position is both more logical and more readily applicable in practice.

Edmunds then proceeds toward discussion of the “bright line rule” cited in an earlier post.

Key:

  • Plaintiffs are Pender County commissioners suing as individuals.
  • VRA is the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  • Section 2 of the VRA forbids states from imposing voting qualifications or prerequisites that impair or dilute a minority voter’s participation in the electoral process.
  • Gingles is Thornburg v. Gingles, a U.S. Supreme Court redistricting precedent case.
  • A majority-minority district is one “in which a majority of the population is a member of a specific minority group.”
  • Defendants are the State Board of Elections, legislative leaders, governor, and attorney general.

  • A coalition district involves two minority groups combining to create a majority

  • A crossover district involves a minority group securing support from voters in the “dominant racial group.

  • An influence district involves a minority group sufficiently large to influence the outcome of elections.