State Rep. Karen Camper, D-Memphis, balances maps and documents after a Tuesday news conference by the Tennessee Black Caucus in Nashville to call for more input into redistricting plans being assembled by the Republican majorities in the General Assembly.NASHVILLE – Black legislative leaders said Tuesday their caucus will file a lawsuit challenging Republican redistricting plans if they think the map, which is being drawn in secret, violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
Rep. G.A. Hardaway, chairman of the Legislature’s Black Caucus, called on Republicans to include caucus members in helping shape the plan that reapportions and redraws the 99 House and 33 Senate districts to reflect minority voters.
“We will sue if it’s not in compliance with the Voting Rights Act as the Black Caucus sees it,” Hardaway said.
In a statement, Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell, of Nashville, said it “is well established that one of the many criteria we use in developing redistricting concepts is compliance with the Voting Rights Act, and it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. … Our goal has always been to draw fair and legal lines and to get 99 votes in the House.”
She said the redistricting process is a “work in progress.”