Note: The Brennan Center is not a participant in this case.
Case Background
On February 28, 2020, four Oklahoma voters filed a petition with the Oklahoma Supreme Court challenging the legality of Initiative Petition 426, a proposed constitutional amendment that would create an independent redistricting commission to draw congressional and state legislative maps. This is the second such challenge to the redistricting reform initiative (formerly IP 420), after the state supreme court ruled the initiative petition was legally sufficient in Gaddis v. Moore.
Plaintiffs in this case argue that Initiative Petition 426’s method of counting people who are incarcerated at their pre-incarceration addresses violates Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. They also claim that the petition’s eligibility requirements and disqualifications for commissioners violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiffs are asking the court to block the addition of Initiative Petition 426 to a future ballot.
Oral argument took place via telephone on March 17, 2020. On May 27, 2020, the court ruled that Initiative Petition 426 is legally sufficient.
Documents
Oklahoma Supreme Court
- Application and Petition to Assume Original Jurisdiction (February 28, 2020)
- Plaintiffs’ Brief in Support of Application and Petition (February 28, 2020)
- Defendants’ Brief in Response to Application (March 12, 2020)
- Opinion (May 27, 2020)