Congressman Cohen Protests Reckless Plan to Silence Memphis’ Black Vote

MEMPHIS - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today observed the wholesale destruction of democratic representation in the state of Tennessee by the Tennessee General Assembly that he has tried to prevent and made the following statement:

"While we expected this egregious result, it's hard to contemplate how much harm the General Assembly has done to the voice of Black voters in Tennessee, and specifically in Memphis. The procedures outlined in this hastily drawn legislation are obviously inadequate. The time factor for creating new district lines for candidates is clearly inadequate and confusing for voters after established lines have been in place and candidates have been campaigning for two months. The new arrangement cannot result in fair representation.

"Beyond all that, the fact that each of these new districts was drawn to divide almost exactly into thirds the Black voting population of the 9^th District suggests serious racist and unethical intent and raises legal issues about the use of race being the true predominant factor in this redistricting effort."

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