voters

A new analysis of Black voters in the south indicates that Republican attempts to dilute their political power is driving them to the polls in larger numbers and shifting their counties further left.

After the supreme court effectively gutted section 2 of the Voting Rights Act protections in late April, Republican legislatures across the south rapidly pushed to disenfranchise Black voters by redrawing congressional maps. Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama all immediately worked to pass new maps, while the Mississippi governor has said that he wants legislators to redraw maps before the upcoming midterm elections.

The analysis by VoteHub, a data-focused election organization, indicates that the efforts have only motivated Black voters in the 78 Black belt counties it tracked. All but one shifted left in partisan turnout compared with 2024. Further, majority-Black counties that voted after Louisiana v Callais, the landmark supreme court decision that triggered the Republican-led redistricting efforts, had a surge in voter participation.

Residents in Monterey Park, California, became the first in the US to vote on a permanent ban on datacenters on Tuesday, and early results indicate a resounding victory for the prohibition.

While many cities and counties have already passed temporary or indefinite moratoriums via their local governments, Monterey Park would be the first to do so through a ballot initiative.

The ballot measure needs a majority vote – at least 51% – to win. As of 2am Pacific Time, 86.3% of the more than 7,000 votes counted so far were in favor of banning datacenters. While it can take days to finalize election results, the stark gap was enough evidence for Jose Sanchez, a city councilmember, to claim a “landslide victory” for residents who don’t want to live near datacenters.

“[This] shows unequivocally that residents in Monterey Park do not want datacenters in their community,” Sanchez said. “We hope that other communities will use the model set by residents here in Monterey Park as inspiration to stop data centers from encroaching in their backyard.”

The night after the Louisiana Legislature approved a congressional map eliminating one of the two Black voting districts in the state, over 200 Acadiana residents turned out to sign petitions to recall both Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill, the two officials who spearheaded the redistricting.

“That felt good” and “it’s time to end this foolishness” were among the remarks made by those signing the petition at Lafayette City Hall Thursday night, illustrating a growing frustration with Landry, at least in part due to his decision to delay congressional races to this fall in order to secure another Republican congressman for Louisiana.

A trial judge dismissed the case last year, and the appeals court has now upheld that decision, shutting down the challenge before it could proceed. By affirming the dismissal, the court left existing election systems fully intact — including access to drop boxes, signature curing and established verification practices.

Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that would allow the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Voters in Virginia on Tuesday approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House of Representatives, in the latest blow to Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve his control of Congress.

As of Thursday, the Republican-led initiative slipped below the number of signatures required for the measure to go to voters, as thousands of voters statewide and hundreds in one key Senate district withdrew their support.