Mid-decade redistricting efforts unleash with little regulation
Before he reached his highest title, Gerry ran for governor of Massachusetts four times, unsuccessfully.Gerry won, and thus, gerrymandering was born. Redistricting all comes down to how the population of each state is represented in government.
People who live in the United States regardless of immigration status are counted by the national census every ten years, and then a certain number of house districts are given to each state based on those numbers. Ultimately, it’s supposed to reflect the changing population. If more people move to a state, they should gain a seat; if lots of people leave a state, they should lose one.The Constitution says it’s up to states themselves. Most leave the redistricting to their state legislatures. Others use independent commissions. And some drawn by state legislators wind up being redrawn in court.in most congressional districts drawn by a state’s dominant party. About a fifth were drawn by independent commissions and courts. Gerrymandering is drawing the district lines so they skew heavily in favor of one party, so that the candidate for that party is all but certain to win.In this day and age, with computer algorithms and detailed data, lawmakers or political commissions can draw them with surgical precision to achieve the partisan advantage and weaken the strength of the disfavored voters in the area.The Supreme Court ruled in the 2006 caseThe high court really gave the practice the green light in the 2019 case. The conservative majority of justices ruled that while gerrymandering is “inconsistent with democratic principles,” the question of its legality is a political one, not a judicial one, that federal courts don’t have a judicially manageable standard to address it, but Congress does.Race may also play a factor in gerrymandering, because the practice can try to target the political power of minority communities. Both Republicans and Democrats have used minorities as means to an end. And yes, it is legal to do that.the redistricting job South Carolina did after the 2020 census, specifically a district in Charleston. They argued it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and they were being disenfranchised based on their race. The GOP lawmakers argued it was based on who they vote for, not their race. Last year, the Supreme Court sided with the Republicans, agreeing that the map’s lines were based on party affiliation, not race. Gerrymandering may be the most blatant anti-democratic tool that’s allowed to be used. Even the Supreme Court conceded as much. It’s coming close to completely eliminating the independent or moderate voting blocs, or the chance of a swing district.Would they choose a group of people that have elected both Democrats and Republicans in the past? Too risky. They’ll go for the extreme voters who will vote with their party no matter what, catering their whole campaign to those voters to win the seat.Out of the 535 seats in the Senate and House, there are but two independents: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, both of whom caucus with Democrats. Yet, the number of Americans who identify as independent is at a record high – 43% according to the latest GallupPresident Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his calls to Republican-controlled states to redistrict to boost GOP odds in the midterms next year.to squeeze out five new GOP seats has nearly crossed the finish line, and California is doing its best to retaliate with five new Democratic seats to neutralize the gain. Democratic-led states may have a harder time with this brinkmanship. Many blue states passed laws prohibiting mid-decade redistricting, or they have voter-approved independent commissions that were created to prevent this type of thing.And if the Supreme Court won’t change the practice, who can?But, they’ve actually tried to stop partisan redistricting multiple times., which would have limited partisan gerrymandering nationwide and established nonpartisan redistricting commissions in every state. Senate Republicans blocked it quickly., which would have banned mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering in general. It even went as far as improving legal protections for minority voters, requiring transparency in map drawing and helping voters challenge gerrymandered maps in court.
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