US judge orders remap of a Mississippi state Senate district

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that one of Mississippi’s 52 state Senate districts violates the Voting Rights Act because it does not give African-American voters an “equal opportunity” to elect a candidate of their choice.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit that challenges the composition of Senate District 22.

The district stretches through the Delta down into the Jackson suburbs of Madison County. It has a 51 percent black voting-age population and a white senator, Republican Buck Clarke of Hollandale.

The lawsuit was filed in July by three black people. One of them lost in 2015 to Clarke, who took office in 2004.

Reeves is giving lawmakers a chance to redraw District 22 and possibly other Senate districts.

Clarke is not seeking re-election this year.

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