Tennessee politicians have been busy redrawing Tennessee’s congressional and legislative district maps.
Creating these new electoral maps – or redistricting – takes place every ten years, based on population data from the Census. Redistricting plays a vital role in our communities and affects the daily lives of all Americans, dictating not only who runs for public office and who is elected, but also how financial resources are allocated for schools, hospitals, roads and more.
Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and part of guaranteeing that every vote counts equally is ensuring fair redistricting.
Yet the congressional map being voted on in the House splits Davidson County – where Nashville is located – from one district where 24 percent of the voters are Black, into three different districts where the percentage of voters who are Black drops to just 15.5, 11.8 and 8.6 percent of the voters respectively. This dilution of the voting strength of Black voters is unacceptable.
The proposed map would also split Tipton County across two congressional districts and add half of Tipton County to the 9th Congressional District, which currently includes almost all of Memphis.
Our democracy works best when all voters, no matter their race or ethnicity, have a fair chance to elect candidates of their choice.
