Wednesday, September 5, 2012

MS Dem Third Congressional District EC Letter to DOJ: GOP Map Artist Pledged to Draw Racially Biased Maps

In a letter to the United States Department of Justice's Voting Section Chief Chris Herren, Jackson attorney Dorsey Carson, the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party's Third Congressional District Executive Committee, recounts that during the 2011 legislative campaign Rep. Bill Denny (R - Jackson) pledged to "decrease the number of minority voters" within his House district.  Those who've followed Denny's career and studied the redistricting maps he drew this past legislative session won't be surprised, but the head of the USDOJ's Voting Division might be.


Carson, the Democratic nominee for Denny's seat last November, doesn't focus only on Denny's House district, but also on problems with minority representation in Rankin County that have previously brought to the DOJ's attention, and with the destruction of communities of interest in Scott and Jasper Counties.  Carson also outlines problems with racial "packing" in other districts in both the House and Senate GOP maps, and the glaring lack of any public input in the drafting of the maps.

Here's the letter in full:

DRC Letter to Chris Herren

No comments: