Mississippi Lawmakers Push Redistricting as Hundreds Protest

Hundreds of people gathered across from the Mississippi state capitol in Jackson on Thursday evening to protest Republican-led efforts to redraw the state's congressional maps, according to the Guardian's reporting from the scene. The rally preceded the last of eight public hearings held by the state legislature's joint redistricting committee since August.

What prompted the redistricting push in Mississippi?

The push followed the US Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Guardian reported. Governor Tate Reeves moved alongside other Republican governors and lawmakers nationally to call for a special legislative session to redraw Mississippi's maps after that ruling.

Why did Governor Reeves cancel the special session?

Reeves called for the special session but then canceled it before it could take place. Writing on X, he said he expected "lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections," according to the Guardian. The cancellation left the redistricting committee's eight-city hearing tour, which began in August, as the primary public venue for input on new maps.

What happened at Thursday's rally in Jackson?

An hour before the hearing was scheduled to start, the hearing room was already full, with people leaning against the walls, the Guardian reported. Before the hearing, Safia Malin, policy director at the civic organization One Voice, addressed the crowd and invoked the state's civil rights history, from the 1890 constitution that disenfranchised Black voters through the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the work of Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer.

"This fight is familiar territory for all of us. The giants of the civil rights movement didn't fight so that we could sit this fight out. They fought so we could stand exactly where we're standing right now and finish what they started," Malin said, according to the Guardian.

After the rally, demonstrators marched to the capitol carrying signs and chanting "Leave our maps alone" and "Whose maps? Our maps," the Guardian reported.

What does the Supreme Court's Callais ruling change?

The Callais decision narrowed Section 2 protections under the Voting Rights Act, a change cited by the Guardian as the legal opening Republican lawmakers in Mississippi and other states used to pursue new congressional maps. The ruling's practical effect on Mississippi's districts will depend on what map the legislature ultimately adopts.

What happens next for Mississippi's congressional maps?

Reeves has said he expects lawmakers to act before the 2027 elections rather than during a special session, per his X post cited by the Guardian. Thursday's hearing was the final stop on the redistricting committee's eight-hearing tour, meaning any further public input would likely come through regular legislative session or additional committee action.

Key terms, explained

• Section 2, Voting Rights Act: A federal provision barring voting practices that discriminate based on race; Callais narrowed its reach.
• Redistricting committee: The joint Mississippi legislative panel that held eight public hearings since August on new district lines.
• Special session: A legislative session called outside the regular calendar, which Reeves initially sought and then canceled.

For the full account from Jackson, see the Guardian's original report.