Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is moderating the 2026 Hutchins Forum, a live panel discussion examining voting rights, redistricting, and the courts as the nation approaches November midterm elections. The event is produced by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University in partnership with PBS NewsHour.
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. will introduce the panel, which brings together legal scholars, an election attorney, and a sitting member of Congress to discuss what organizers describe as fundamental questions about democratic participation.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservatives have defended state-level redistricting efforts as legitimate exercises of legislative authority, arguing that courts should defer to elected representatives on district boundaries. Republican-controlled state legislatures have enacted various election security measures they describe as protecting ballot integrity.
The forum's format allows for examination of both perspectives on how courts have handled challenges to redistricting maps and what legal standards should govern electoral boundary-drawing. Right-leaning commentators have argued that some Democratic-backed voting proposals overstep traditional state authority over elections.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive advocates and Democratic lawmakers have increasingly focused on redistricting and voting access ahead of the 2026 midterms. Marc Elias, a prominent election lawyer who has challenged restrictive voting laws in multiple states, chairs the Elias Law Group and has been involved in high-profile voting rights litigation. NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray, an expert in constitutional law, is expected to address recent court decisions affecting ballot access.
Representative Terri Sewell of Alabama's 7th Congressional District, which includes Selma, is participating in her capacity as a member of Congress representing a district with deep ties to the civil rights movement. Voting rights advocates have long argued that redistricting and voter ID laws disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income voters.
What the Numbers Show
The 2026 midterm elections will be the first major federal elections held under new congressional district maps drawn during the previous decennial redistricting cycle. State legislatures in both parties controlled map-drawing in most states, with courts intervening in several high-profile disputes over district boundaries.
According to tracking by election analysts, multiple states implemented new district lines following court rulings or bipartisan settlements between 2021 and 2023. The Supreme Court has addressed the scope of judicial review in redistricting cases, including its 2023 ruling on Alabama's congressional map under the Voting Rights Act.
The Bottom Line
The Hutchins Forum brings together voices from law, Congress, and election practice to discuss voting rights as early voting begins in some states for the November midterms. The discussion comes amid ongoing legal battles over redistricting maps that could affect competitive House races.
Panelists are expected to address how recent court decisions have shaped the landscape for voting rights litigation and what questions remain unresolved heading into the 2026 elections. Viewers can watch the live stream on PBS NewsHour, with the event beginning at 5 p.m. ET.