BREAKING: District court rules in favor of the current N.M. congressional district maps.
District Court judge Fred T. Van Soelen issued his ruling today at 11 a.m. on the case of the Republican Party and other parties vs. N.M. Secretary State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and other parties.
“The Court does not find that the disparate treatment of vote dilution rises to the level of an egregious gerrymander….
“The Court finds that the congressional redistricting map enacted under Senate Bill1 does not violate the Plaintiffs’ equal protection rights under Article II, Section 18 of the Constitution of the State ofNew Mexico.”
The court did note the realignment of Congressional districts was an effort to get Democrats elected in all three N.M. Congressional districts.
“The Defendants’ intentions were to entrench their party in CD 2, and they succeeded in substantially diluting their opponents’ votes. However, given the variables that go into predicting future election outcomes, coupled with the competitive outcome of the only actual election held so far under the SB 1 map, the Court finds that the Plaintiffs have not provided sufficient evidence that the Defendants were successful in their attempt to entrench their party in Congressional District 2.”
The judge’s finding said it did not rise the level of “egregious” in order to entrench one party over the other.
For the judges’ complete ruling, click: Ruling – Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law in Redistricting Case
