A federal complaint filed last March over Congressional redistricting in Pulaski County was partially dismissed on Monday by a three-judge panel.
The complaint alleged that the change violated the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, by diluting the voting power of Black voters in the district when it split the county's Black population into three separate Congressional districts.
Plaintiffs in the case — Simpson et al. v. Hutchinson et al. — said the redistricting dispersing some 23,000 Black voters from the 2nd Congressional District and divided them between the state's 2nd and 4th district. Then those voters were replaced by voters who reside in the virtually all-white Cleburne County, they said.
The state Legislature deliberately employed a method known as "cracking" to reduce the influence of Black voters in Pulaski County, the complaint argues.
The plaintiffs have also accused the state of violating the U.S. Constitution and the Arkansas Constitution.
Monday's panel comprised two federal judges from the Eastern District of Little Rock and one judge from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Their ruling removed Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the state of Arkansas as defendants in the matter — leaving Sec. of State John Thurston as the sole defendant.
The panel ruled that claims the new map violates the U.S. Constitution Article 1 Section 2, the 1st Amendment and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the 14th Amendment had failed "as a matter of law."
Those claims were dismissed with prejudice and cannot be refiled.
In addition, the court ruled that the plaintiffs have 30 days to submit new evidence to support the claim that splitting Pulaski County Black population among three districts was racially motivated.
The ruling was written by 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Stras, who, with Chief U.S. District. Judge D. Price Marshall and U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr., comprise the panel overseeing the lawsuit.
CORRECTION: The new map was drawn by the Legislature. An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified its author.