A federal judge has struck down Mississippi’s decades-old election map for state supreme court races, ruling that it weakens the political power of Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock in Greenville, sided with Black residents who challenged the map, which has remained largely unchanged since the late 1800s and has governed judicial elections since 1987.
Under the current system, the nine justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court are chosen in nonpartisan elections across three districts, serving eight-year staggered terms. Despite Black residents making up about 40% of the state’s population, only four Black justices have ever served—and never at the same time. All four occupied the same seat in District 1, the Jackson-centered district where Black voters make up a slim majority. Each was initially appointed by a governor before later winning election. Today, the only Black member of the court is Presiding Justice Leslie King.
Judge Aycock noted that the numbers tell a deeper story: while District 1 appears to hold a Black majority on paper, barriers such as felony disenfranchisement laws—disproportionately affecting Black Mississippians—reduce real voting strength. Combined with the state’s long history of voter suppression, she concluded, the system leaves Black candidates at a severe disadvantage.
“The evidence illustrates that Black candidates who desire to run for the Mississippi Supreme Court face a grim likelihood of success,” Aycock wrote, adding that the map entrenches discrimination.
Mississippi officials defended the map, arguing that District 1 already guarantees Black-majority representation. But Aycock rejected that claim and barred future use of the map, directing lawmakers to draft a new one. She will hold a hearing to set deadlines for the redistricting process.
Civil rights attorneys called the ruling a long-overdue correction. “This win corrects a historic injustice,” said Ari Savitzky of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the plaintiffs.
Mississippi’s attorney general’s office, which defended the existing system, said it is reviewing the decision.
The case—*White v. State Board of Election Commissioners*—marks a significant moment for voting rights in a state where the legacy of disenfranchisement runs deep.
