A coalition of California voters and the state’s Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the legality of Proposition 50’s congressional redistricting maps.

The lawsuit argues that Proposition 50 constitutes unlawful racial gerrymandering in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments . The suit targets 16 congressional districts that, according to the complaint, legislators have explicitly characterized as “Voting Rights Act districts” designed to “empower Latino voters to elect their candidates of choice.”

The lawsuit calls on Supreme Court precedent that requires race-based districting to meet strict standards. Under Cooper v. Harris and Miller v. Johnson , states must demonstrate that they relied on strong evidence that race-conscious district

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