Ellington

The Mississippi Senate struck down Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant's controversial substitute redistricting plan, which would have diffused black voting power in Hattiesburg, with a 35-to-16 vote today.

Bryant supplanted a Senate Redistricting Committee redistricting plan that would have created a majority-black Senate District 41 in Hattiesburg. The Senate Redistricting Committee map created District 41 with a majority-black voting population of 59.06 percent, up from 38.21 percent, by absorbing black voters (who tend to vote Democratic) from neighboring District 44. But Bryant's supplemental plan spread black voters among a host of nearby white-majority districts, effectively dissolving the black majority in the Hattiesburg area.

During debate, critics of Bryant's plan, such as Senate Redistricting Committee Chairman Terry Burton, R-Newton, argued that the U.S. Department of Justice must pre-clear Mississippi's redistricting plan under the direction of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which encourages states to create minority-majority districts, and may not approve a plan that pointedly destroys a new black-majority district.

The Senate approved Burton's plan shortly after with a floor vote, but Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, held the plan for reconsideration but the Senate will likely table his motion because the plan passed with a majority vote.

"I'm proud of this plan. The Burton plan is good for the state, and it's defensible. ... When (the DOJ) look(s) at this plan, they'll say Mississippi did it right," Burton told the Senate today. "With any other plan, I'm afraid we will be abdicating our responsibility ... they won't meet federal guidelines, state law, or receive the blessing of the U.S. Justice Department."

Previous Comments

ID

162507

Comment

This is finally something good out of the Senate. It makes me feel a little better about the possibility for reconciliation in this state. If the Lt. Guv wanted to stir up and motivate opposition to his future ambitions, then he may well have succeeded. Leadership is not exemplified by catering to outdated, offensive desires to dilute African American voting strength in a State with a long history of doing exactly that.

Author

CliftonWhitley

Date

2011-03-10T14:47:46-06:00