Mississippi must redraw gerrymandered district

One of the most gerrymandered state Senate districts in Mississippi, which meanders 102 miles through the Delta region, violates the Voting Rights Act, a federal judge has ruled. The district connects just enough voters in wealthy, white and Republican areas to the north and south to assure the election of a GOP legislator even though the bulk of the territory is overwhelmingly African-American and Democratic.

Three black voters have sued with the help of the Mississippi Center for Justice, and this week U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ordered the Legislature to redraw the boundaries before statewide elections this fall. (The job will be made a bit easier for the legislators because the incumbent state senator, Buck Clarke, is running for state treasurer instead of re-election.)