Defending Voters of Color and Boston’s Redistricting Map

NAACP AND COMMUNITY GROUPS TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO ENSURE THAT BOSTON’S REDISTRICTING MAP COMPLIES WITH VOTING RIGHTS ACT

The NAACP Boston Branch, MassVOTE, the Massachusetts Voter Table, La Colaborativa, the Chinese Progressive Association, and New England United for Justice took legal action to ensure that Boston’s redistricting map complies with the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA). On behalf of six diverse community groups, Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a motion to intervene in the redistricting case pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Walters et al. v. City of Boston et al., Case No. 22-CV-12048). The intervention motion was filed to provide the community-based organizations — already participating in the lawsuit as friends-of-the-court — with a more robust opportunity to defend and protect equal voting opportunity for Boston’s communities of color.  

Building on their role as friends-of-the-court, the community-based groups are prepared to fill a key gap in the unfolding redistricting case: VRA expertise. Proceeding as intervenors will amplify their active participation in the case and their presentation of strong evidence that requires the City of Boston to consider race in redistricting in order to comply with the VRA and guard against vote dilution.  

As the City’s own experts have advised the Boston City Council, voting is often racially polarized in Boston municipal elections, particularly in the preliminary elections. This racial polarization, together with the size and compactness of Boston’s communities of color, means that many map configurations will dilute the vote of communities of color in violation of the VRA. However, none of these issues have been explained to the federal court. The result has been a one-sided record that shows Boston City Councilors talking about race, but without any explanation why.  

The redistricting map under judicial review was created through an extensive community engagement process in the Boston City Council, including at least nineteen public hearings, hours of testimony from experts and residents, and numerous meetings with local advocacy groups.  The NAACP Boston Branch and each organization moving to intervene actively participated in the redistricting process. They have watched — with alarm — as the City failed to present any VRA rationale to the federal court, which ruled against the City of Boston last week finding preliminary issues with the redistricting map narrowly focused on the boundaries between City Council Districts 3 and 4. 

Since the ruling, the NAACP Boston Branch and other community organizations have seen that the disregard for the VRA has gotten worse. Within days of the federal court tasking the City Council to redraw the boundary between Districts 3 and 4—and before the Council could hold a single hearing on the issue—City Hall publicized a proposed map created without public engagement or input. The proposed map makes seismic changes far beyond the limited geographical area on which the federal court focused its inquiry and raises significant concerns under the VRA. More specifically, the proposed map:

·      forcibly moves thousands of people into new districts;

·      alters nearly every district in the City by haphazardly shifting dozens of precincts; 

·      divides and eviscerates numerous neighborhoods populated by Black voters as well as other voters of color; and

·      preserves traditionally white neighborhoods, such as South Boston, at the expense of Black voters and communities of color.

Two additional maps have also been proposed by Boston City Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune and Kendra Lara.

“The havoc and upheaval created by the Mayor’s proposed map is completely unnecessary and damaging to Boston’s communities of color,” said Tanisha Sullivan, President of the NAACP Boston Branch. “Out of respect for the public process and the requirements of the VRA, it is critical that the City Council coalesce around a map focused on addressing the Court’s concerns and adherence to the VRA.” 

“In a voting rights case in the City of Boston, Boston’s communities of color should have both voice and legal representation,” said Oren Sellstrom, Litigation Director at Lawyers for Civil Rights.  “By intervening in the lawsuit, we will be well-positioned to challenge any map that improperly dilutes the vote of communities of color.” 

The intervention is available here: 

NAACP-Intervention-AS-FILED-05.17.23