The trial over whether the district map drawn to elect multiple DeSoto County officials violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting strength is over and now rests on the judge’s ruling.
A federal lawsuit filed in September 2024 says the 2022 DeSoto County electoral map dilutes Black voting power in county office elections. The offices in question are positions on the boards of supervisors, education and election commission, plus the offices of constable and justice court judge.
The two-week trial ended Wednesday in the federal courthouse in Oxford. It is not yet clear when Senior U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson will issue a ruling.
The ACLU of Mississippi, along with the Legal Defense Fund and Harvard Election Law Clinic, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the DeSoto County NAACP and two voters from the county. The plaintiffs are seeking special elections under a new redistricting plan.
“All voters in Mississippi should have a fair shot at being able to elect who they want to represent them in the state Legislature, in the Mississippi Supreme Court and in DeSoto County,” said Joshua Tom, legal director of ACLU of Mississippi.
The lawsuit was filed against DeSoto County Circuit Clerk Dale Thompson and the DeSoto County Election Commission. The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors, which ultimately adopted the district map, declined to comment.
Mike Hurst, state Republican Party chairman, is representing DeSoto County in the case. Hurst told MPB the case is nothing more than, “Democrats are mad they can’t win an election in DeSoto County because it’s a Republican County.”
DeSoto County, located just south of Memphis in northwest Mississippi, has been one of the state’s fastest growing counties for years. The Black population of DeSoto also has been growing and now represents more than 30% of the total population of 190,000.
None of the 25 county offices determined by the map is held by a Black person. However, DeSoto County does have a Black sheriff elected countywide, Democratic Black state legislators elected from majority-Black districts and a Black Republican House member elected from a majority-white district. The lawsuit does not impact legislative districts.
This is not the first federal lawsuit in recent years over whether Mississippi’s electoral maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In 2025, a federal three-judge panel ruled that the map for state legislative elections violated the Voting Rights Act. The panel ordered the state to create three new majority-Black legislative districts and hold special elections.
As a result of the lawsuit, special elections were held in November. One winner of those special elections was Democrat Theresa Gillespie, who became the first Black woman to represent DeSoto County in the state Senate.
Before the special elections, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch appealed the judges’ ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking them to limit who can sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court did not stop the elections from being held under the new legislative maps.
Last year, a federal judge ruled that the current map for electing Mississippi Supreme Court justices dilutes the power of Black voters. The case was appealed to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 5th Circuit has delayed its ruling pending a ruling in a Louisiana case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule later this year on Louisiana v Callais – a case that could weaken or repeal Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has been federal law since 1965 and has played a key role in the election of minority candidates throughout much of the South.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling could impact the final outcome of the DeSoto County case and the case involving the Mississippi Supreme Court districts.
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