Abstract
While constitutional doctrine formally distinguishes between racial and partisan gerrymandering, this distinction has become increasingly untenable in the modern electoral landscape. In many jurisdictions, particularly in the South, race and political affiliation are deeply intertwined. As a result, what courts treat as “partisan” redistricting often operates as de facto racial gerrymandering, shielding racially discriminatory practices from judicial review. The legal separation of race and party not only reflects a formalist fiction but also undermines the protections the Equal Protection Clause and the Voting Rights Act were designed to provide. The current legal framework that distinguishes racial gerrymandering from partisan gerrymandering fails to address how racial discrimination is increasingly disguised as partisan strategy, allowing racially motivated vote dilution to persist unchecked. To protect minority voting rights effectively, courts and lawmakers must recognize the racialized nature of modern partisan gerrymandering and reform doctrine and legislation accordingly.
First Page
100
Recommended Citation
Crystal Barnes-Bullock,
The Fiction of Separation: Racial Gerrymandering Disguised as Partisan Redistricting,
29
U.D.C. L. Rev.
100
(2026).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.udc.edu/udclr/vol29/iss1/10