Overview

• Black and Latino voters in North Carolina have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state's new congressional districts, arguing they weaken minority voting power in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
• The lawsuit challenges four districts where the plaintiffs contend GOP leaders moved around groups of voters and minimized the voting strength of minorities, thereby strengthening the state's white majority.
• In Georgia, Republicans are pushing redistricting plans that opponents argue illegally break up a majority nonwhite district currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep Lucy McBath.
• A key part of the debate is whether federal law protects voting districts where a coalition of nonwhite voters hold sway, a question that has never been settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Lawmakers in Georgia were called into a special session after a U.S. District Judge ruled that the state's congressional, state Senate and state House maps violate federal law by diluting Black voting power.