Public pushes back on mid‑decade redistricting at Natchez hearing

A joint redistricting committee of the Mississippi Legislature convened a public hearing in Natchez to gather input before considering any mid‑decade changes to congressional, state senate and house maps. Committee staff and legislators set out maps for public view and asked speakers to introduce themselves and state whom they represented.

Dozens of residents, veterans and civil‑rights leaders urged the committee to avoid returning to older maps they said were rooted in racial discrimination and would weaken minority representation. “Returning to those maps would not only repeat past injustices, but deepen wounds our state has worked hard to heal,” Joyce Arsenal Mathis, representing the Natchez branch of the NAACP, told the panel. Several other speakers echoed that concern, calling mid‑decade redistricting disruptive and costly.

Speakers also framed their opposition in different terms: some emphasized legal and technical objections to redrawing maps before the 2030 census, others called for transparency in any mapmaking and still others said state leaders should prioritize hospitals, schools and local economic development rather than pursuing map changes. Representative Jeffrey Harness said the Supreme Court decision in the Louisiana case did not by itself require Mississippi to withdraw all its districts and urged the Legislature to be honest with voters if changes are political.

The hearing closed with instructions on how to submit written comments to committee staff and with no formal action taken. Committee staff said maps and population materials were available for review at the meeting and provided an email for written submissions.