State of Tennessee

Tennessee Legislative Redistricting Challenge

Moore v. Lee

Lawsuit filed on behalf of Democratic voters challenging Tennessee’s new state House and Senate maps drawn with 2020 census data. The plaintiffs argue that Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature unnecessarily split counties to create state House districts and numbered state Senate districts non-consecutively in violation of the state constitution. The lawsuit alleges that Republicans created the legislative districts “to ensure maximum partisan advantage for the incumbent Republican supermajority” and they should be blocked and replaced with legal maps. The three-judge panel temporarily blocked the state Senate map, but declined to block the state House map. The state appealed this decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which vacated the injunction blocking the state Senate map. This means that the as-enacted legislative maps were in place for the 2022 midterm elections. Litigation is ongoing before the trial court.

On Nov. 22, 2023, the trial court struck down the state Senate map and upheld the state House map. On Nov. 29, the plaintiff appealed the decision upholding the state House map. On Nov. 30, the defendants appealed the decision that struck down the state Senate map. On Dec. 8, the Tennessee Supreme Court paused the decision that struck down the state Senate map, leaving the map in place for the 2024 elections.

Case Documents (trial court)

Case Documents (TN Supreme court)

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