AR Times: “A federal three-judge panel has dismissed one of the lawsuits challenging Arkansas’s newly drawn congressional districts, ruling those bringing the lawsuit failed to show that race was the “predominant factor” in forming the new maps.
The federal judges had already dismissed much of the lawsuit brought by six Central Arkansas voters and a pair of state legislators in October, but they allowed challengers additional time to tweak their complaints.
The three outstanding claims included:
- That the new district violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by degrading Black residents’ impact on the vote in the 2nd district as well as their ability to be elected to represent the Central Arkansas congressional district.
- That the new district violates the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits abridging the right to vote on the basis of race.
- That the new district violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which also prohibits abridging the right to vote on the basis of race.”