The Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP and its president, Gloria Sweet-Love, filed an emergency lawsuit on Thursday to stop the state government from redrawing congressional district lines in the middle of a decade.
The petition, filed in the Davidson County Chancery Court, names Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly as respondents. It alleges that the state’s recent move to alter district maps violates both the Tennessee Constitution and specific state statutes that forbid changing districts between federal census counts.
At the heart of the legal challenge is Tennessee Code Section 2-16-102. The law states: “The general assembly shall establish the composition of districts… after each enumeration and apportionment… The districts may not be changed between apportionments.”
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While the Governor called for an extraordinary session on May 5 to address the “composition of Tennessee’s congressional districts,” the NAACP argues that this session itself overstepped legal bounds. The lawsuit points out that the Governor’s proclamation failed to specifically mention repealing the law that prohibits mid-decade redistricting.
State Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) raised these concerns on the Senate floor during the session. “The General Assembly was being asked to break the law,” the petition states, noting that the Governor’s primary obligation is to ensure laws are “faithfully executed.”
Beyond the legal technicalities, the NAACP argues that sudden changes to the maps just six months before a general election will cause “irreparable harm” to voters.
The lawsuit cites a memorandum from Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins, which warned that late-decade redistricting could force counties to adjust precinct boundaries and compress the time for candidates to qualify for the ballot.
“Potential changes to congressional districts could impact voters across multiple counties,” Goins wrote in the memo. “This has the potential to affect ballot styles, over assignments, notices, and election administration across the state.”
The legal filing also takes aim at two specific bills, SB7001 and HB7001, which seek to suspend the one-year residency requirement for congressional candidates in the 2026 election.
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The NAACP argues this move was not authorized by the Governor’s initial call for the special session and serves only to benefit candidates with no history in the districts they wish to represent.
“The purpose of the suspension appears wholly to allow the election of candidates who have no history of living in the district they seek to represent,” the petition claims.
The NAACP is asking the court for a declaratory judgment to void the new maps and the suspension of residency rules. They are also seeking an immediate injunction to prevent the state from sending out voter notices or conducting any primary elections using the newly derived boundaries.
“Unless Respondents are enjoined, NAACP’s members will be subjected to an unlawful redistricting scheme, affecting their voting rights going forward,” the filing concludes.
The court has not yet set a date for a hearing on the emergency petition.
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