Marianna Bacayau

To pass the new maps, the legislature first had to strike down a 50-year-old law that barred mid-decade redistricting.

The quick turnaround time could impact voters in the military and overseas.

For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacayau in Nashville.

Hundreds chanted No Jim Crow 2.0 and shame as lawmakers met today to approve new maps splitting Memphis and its majority black voting bloc into three districts, one of which spans nearly 300 miles.

The old district was contained to the city of Memphis.

Republican supporters of the move say it would give the state a chance to have all its nine House members be from the GOP.

To pass the new maps, the legislature first had to strike down a 50-year-old law that barred mid-decade redistricting.

The quick turnaround time could impact voters in the military and overseas.

For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacayau in Nashville.

The proposal would split Memphis and Shelby County into three districts.

If passed, Tennessee's nine congressional districts would all be represented by Republicans, in a state where roughly a third of voters support Democrats.

Tennessee's ninth congressional district, which has historically represented Memphis in the U.S.

House, would stretch from the bottom of the city to the edge of Nashville, a distance spanning nearly 300 miles.

The new maps come on the heels of Indiana's primaries, where several Republicans who opposed President Trump's redistricting plan for the state lost to Trump-backed challengers.

The president has urged Tennessee and other GOP-led states to redraw their maps as part of his mid-decade redistricting push.

For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacayau in Nashville.

Hundreds of protesters marched the steps of the Tennessee Capitol as lawmakers gaveled in, with signs that read, No Jim Crow 2.0 and Hands Off My District.

Tennessee NAACP President Gloria Sweetlove told the crowd that the move brings the state back to a time before the Voting Rights Act.

Republican lawmakers have voted to ban disruptive spectators during the special session.

GOP leadership says the redistricting effort will reflect the will of the voters.