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Federal courts ruled that Alabama and Louisiana's congressional districts do not comply with section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because they have 1 majority black district when 2 districts in both states is proportional to the percentage of black population.

Let's say Democrats maintain control of the House in 2023, and choose to pursue action against these maps. Could they force Alabama and Louisiana (or any other states that held their maps under illegal maps) to hold special elections under new compliant congressional lines in the middle of a congressional term?

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    Are you aware that the house is not involved in any of this litigation?
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 8, 2022 at 14:01

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The House of Representatives does not "pursue action against" electoral maps. Look at the plaintiffs in the cases you mention: they are residents of the states whose maps they are challenging.

In theory, the House can always create the conditions for a special election because it can expel its members. The majority party doing so without cause simply because it wants to trigger a special election would be highly irregular and I suppose that the House rules require good cause for an expulsion (but I will leave looking that up as an exercise for the reader).

Suppose the existing maps are used for the 2022 elections and new maps are put in place for the 2024 elections. In such a case, any special election in 2023 would likely use the same maps as 2022, so there would be no point in trying to engineer a special election.

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  • I don't recall the details, but hasn't the house's ability to eject a member been limited by a SCOTUS decision?
    – wrod
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 10:12
  • @wrod you're perhaps thinking of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., whom the House declined to seat. I believe the court ruled that the House had to seat him because the house cannot add qualification criteria to those specified in the constitution, but it did not rule that the house was unable to eject him after seating him.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 10:17
  • I think you are right. Unfortunately, my memory is vague on the subject.
    – wrod
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 10:18
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No.

While the Federal level of government does list some requirements for elections, the Constitution explicitly delegates most of the regulatory authority of elections to the State Governments. The House of Representatives have no power to approve or reject a change to congressional districts, which tend to be either get redrawn once every 10 years to reflect the changes in population that occurred in the census (which takes place during years divisible by 10) and the new maps will first be used in the next election following the census (so years ending with a 2 in the ones place). Who draws the district maps depends on state law, but typically states that tend to swing will vote on non-partisan redistricting councils while states that tend to have one party dominant over another will favor The Governor and tend to be Gerrymandered to favor the dominant party.

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  • Redistricting is done by the states but that doesn't mean an outside body such as the courts can't step in and force change.
    – Joe W
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 12:31
  • @JoeW The courts that can step in are State Courts, and when the Federal Courts are appealed too, they will typically make their decisions through the state's law, not federal law. The only time they really take the matter is if the dispute is over whether a map disproportionately disfavors a minority group in the state.
    – hszmv
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 13:10
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Redistrictings, in most states, are done by the state legislatures. In particular, that is the case in Alabama and Louisiana.

But redistrictings only effect future elections. It is fairly common for a congressman to serve out their term, even though the district they were elected to represent is no longer on the map, because of a redistricting.

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  • Redistricting is done by the states but that doesn't mean an outside body such as the courts can't step in and force change.
    – Joe W
    Commented Aug 17, 2022 at 12:31

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