Judge orders special elections for Mississippi Supreme Court : NPR

Mississippi Supreme Court justices listen to arguments in Jackson, Mississippi, July 6, 2023. A judge on Friday ordered a special election for the court after earlier concluding that the voting map used to select justices violated the Voting Rights Act.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

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Rogelio V. Solis/AP

JACKSON, Miss. — A judge ordered a special election for the Mississippi Supreme Court on Friday after previously finding that the voting map used to select justices violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock in August ordered Mississippi to redraw the map, which was adopted in 1987, concluding that the current configuration dilutes the power of black voters. Friday’s decision gives the Mississippi Legislature until the end of its 2026 regular session to redraw the map.

Section 2, which is the primary means by which plaintiffs can challenge racist election practices, is currently under challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Once the Legislature approves a new map, Aycock wrote that she will move quickly to meet all necessary deadlines to hold the special election in November 2026.

Aycock also wrote that she would defer deciding which seats will be subject to special elections until after the new map has been adopted.

The order follows a 2022 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which claimed the current map cuts the Mississippi Delta region — a historically black area — in half, thereby diminishing the black vote in the central district.

“Mississippi is nearly 40 percent Black, but has never had more than one Black justice on the Court’s nine members,” Ari Savitzky, senior attorney for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, wrote in a statement. “We couldn’t be happier to see justice on the horizon.”

In his August ruling, Aycock noted that only four blacks had served on the Mississippi Supreme Court. All occupied the same seat in the Central District and were first appointed to the position by a sitting governor.

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s office is appealing Aycock’s decision in August. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed its proceedings pending the outcome of the SCOTUS case and other related cases.

The offices of the Mississippi secretary of state and attorney general did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In December, two Mississippi Supreme Court justices were appointed as federal judges. Gov. Tate Reeves will appoint replacements to serve until new judges can be elected.

In Mississippi, Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan.