The Undemocratic Process of Gerrymandering
Over the course of history, gerrymandering has proven to be deeply undemocratic and significantly influential in regards to which party has control over Congress. Gerrymandering helps manufacture election outcomes, creates the illusion of democracy while effectively denying the actual practice of it, and hands the real voting power over to politicians.
There are two main ways in which gerrymandering can happen, packing and cracking. The method of packing happens when those in charge of drawing the map place specific groups of voters into the smallest number of districts as possible so that their voting power is strong in those few districts but weakened in the larger number of other districts. Cracking does the opposite, instead those in charge of drawing the map split groups of people with similar party affiliations/characteristics and spread them amongst as many districts as possible so that the strength of their voting power is divided and thinned over each district. Both of these methods help map drawers build a partisan advantage for one party while making it so the other has a harder time electing their preferred candidates.
Map drawers have also found a way to maximize their political advantage even more and take to targeting communities of color. While the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution prohibit racial discrimination during redistricting, the Supreme Court's 2019 ruling of Rucho v. Common Cause made it so Republican-controlled states are able to defend racially discriminatory maps on the grounds that they were instead discriminating against democrats rather than communities of color.
Gerrymandering takes the competition out of elections. When legislators are able to draw the redistricting map to keep their seat in the government safe they don’t have to work as hard to make themselves or their politics appealing to the masses. It creates less of an incentive for legislators to actually be responsive to what voters want. They know that the voters who are already on their side will get them elected with the heightened power they can give their votes.
Furthermore, this creates a sense of hopelessness for Americans. When gerrymandering takes place, Americans start to feel as though their vote doesn’t count, like it doesn’t matter. In turn, they are then less likely to further participate in future elections since they start to believe that no matter who or what they vote for, they won’t even have a chance of getting what they want.
Recently, following a Republican-led effort to create a new congressional map that puts potential control of the U.S. House on the line with the addition of 5 new republican seats in Texas, a group of 6 fugitive Texas lawmakers joined Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany, NY, to condemn a redistricting scheme and try to stop a vote to change Texas’ congressional lines.
Republicans have since criticized Gov. Hocul’s fight to change New York’s independent districting limitations and commission, yet proudly show their support for Texas republicans fight to change Texas’ congressional lines to potentially favor Republican votes.
How can we eliminate gerrymandering and partisan bias efforts?
One way we can work to combat gerrymandering is by taking redistricting power away from politicians and instead putting it in the hands of private nonpartisan groups. This is where Independent Redistricting Commissions can come in. Used in congressional and state legislative elections, IRCs are responsible for redrawing fair maps to ensure every American has equitable representation and voting power.
Another way to work against gerrymandering is by advocating for legislation that actively bans the manipulation of redistricting for partisan bias. Legislation that employs measures to create fairness over all redistricting and makes it so every vote is equal would empower Americans and make it easier for cases of gerrymandering to be prosecuted. The Freedom to Vote Act is a piece of legislation that would have protected against any unfair efforts to gain partisan bias, reformed campaign finance away from “dark money”, further protected the integrity of democracy, and worked to improve ballot access for all Americans. Though this bill failed when voted on in congress just a few years ago, if democrats were to revisit it (or something similar) and solve efficacy concerns, it could be the push towards voter protection America needs.
