Democratic turnout for House primaries in a majority-Black Tennessee county surged to the highest level in a decade, the latest sign that redistricting may be energizing Black voters across the South.
A fifth of active registered voters cast a ballot in one of the three Democratic U.S. House primaries held on Thursday in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
The Tennessee state legislature eliminated a majority-Black, predominantly Democratic House district earlier this year, following the Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act provisions that ensured racial minorities would be able to elect their candidate of choice. Now residents of Memphis, once the heart of that district, are spread across three solidly Republican districts.
Since the Supreme Court ruling, Black leaders in Memphis have intensified efforts to register voters and encourage them to cast a ballot.
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The post One chart shows the backlash to gutting the Voting Rights Act appeared first on Washington Post.
