Shelby County Democratic Primary Turnout Hits 10-Year High After 1 Majority-Black District Was Eliminated
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 7
Shelby County Democratic Primary Turnout Hits 10-Year High After 1 Majority-Black District Was Eliminated
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 7
Summary
20% of active registered voters cast ballots in Thursday’s Democratic U.S. House primaries in Shelby County, the highest turnout there in a decade.
That surge followed Tennessee lawmakers’ elimination of a majority-Black, heavily Democratic House district, splitting Memphis across three solidly Republican districts.
Black leaders in Memphis have since intensified voter-registration and turnout drives after a Supreme Court ruling weakened Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters.
The result adds to signs that redistricting is mobilizing Black voters across the South rather than suppressing participation.