The precept of 1 particular person, one vote — a defining function of American democracy — implies that each citizen has equal illustration and an equal voice in our authorities.
As our nation has grown, redistricting protects equal illustration: Congressional and different legislative districts have to be revised following every decennial US Census to account for inhabitants modifications.
Sadly, each Democrats and Republicans have sought to inject partisan gerrymandering into the redistricting course of.
This pernicious tactic has quietly eroded the foundations of our democracy, as each events manipulate district boundaries for political benefit and thereby polarize the citizens.
As gerrymandered Democrat and Republican-held districts turn out to be uncompetitive, elected officers lose their incentive to enchantment to the center and discover frequent floor.
As an alternative, elected officers on each side are compelled to gravitate towards the extremes to protect in opposition to the specter of social gathering primaries — pushing each events farther from the middle and deeper into the partisan trenches, fracturing Congress and alienating on a regular basis voters.
Via the compounding impact of partisan gerrymandering, bipartisan compromise has turn out to be more and more uncommon at nearly each stage of presidency — making it practically unimaginable to resolve crucial points like affordability and well being care reform.
As just lately as 2002, 125 districts within the US Home of Representatives have been thought of “aggressive” — that’s, determined by 5% or much less in presidential or congressional elections.
20 years later, this quantity dropped by practically 75% after successive rounds of gerrymandering in states like Illinois, judged by many to be probably the most egregious in America.
In 2024, fewer than 35 Home seats have been determined by 5% or much less, highlighting how sharply competitors has declined — and underscoring the pressing want for reform.
In 2014, New York voters acknowledged the risks of partisan gerrymandering.
They overwhelmingly adopted an modification to the state Structure to take away social gathering politics from the redistricting course of.
Particularly, the New York state Structure now requires congressional and state legislative district traces to respect minority rights and preserve communities of curiosity, and it explicitly forbids drawing districts to learn incumbents or political events.
To additional take away politics in Washington or Albany from the redistricting course of, the voters additionally created a bipartisan unbiased redistricting fee to make sure equity and transparency as new traces are drawn.
Armed with the governor’s mansion and supermajority management (or near it) over every state legislative chamber, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Democrats tried to bypass these safeguards after the final census, ramming by a partisan congressional redistricting plan designed to disenfranchise the state’s Republican voters.
However New York’s highest courtroom thwarted their nefarious scheme in 2022, leading to probably the most aggressive and pretty drawn congressional map in a long time.
The Courtroom of Appeals’ landmark determination demonstrated the significance of clearly outlined constitutional requirements coupled with unbiased judicial oversight.
Exterior New York, nonetheless, the US Supreme Courtroom’s 2019 ruling in Rucho v. Widespread Trigger dealt a extreme blow to these searching for to rein in partisan gerrymandering.
The 5-4 determination discovered that federal courts lack the jurisdiction to problem even probably the most outrageous circumstances.
Whereas Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling acknowledged the dangerous results of gerrymandering, it left the difficulty to the states or Congress to resolve, successfully eradicating an important examine on partisan abuses.
Now, c Gov. Greg Abbott’s expressly partisan try and redraw the state’s congressional districts — and bolster my very own social gathering’s capacity to retain management of the Home within the coming midterms — has ignited an unseemly tit-for-tat redistricting race between crimson and blue states.
And regardless of my state’s specific ban on each partisan and mid-decade redistricting, Hochul has publicly pledged to take away these protections from the state Structure — and dismantle New York’s unbiased redistricting fee.
As this political arms race takes purpose at American democracy from all sides, Congress has a duty to reply to the Supreme Courtroom’s 2019 name.
We should undertake a nationwide ban on partisan gerrymandering and strictly restrict the redistricting course of to a once-a-decade occasion following the US Census.
This resolution will strengthen our democracy by guaranteeing that aggressive districts — whose representatives should enchantment broadly to their constituents — exist.
That may foster cooperation as a substitute of partisanship and division in Congress.
Furthermore, it would empower voters, restoring their capacity to carry elected officers accountable by aggressive elections.
The stakes are excessive and the time to behave is now.
Let’s restore competitors to our elections. Our democracy deserves nothing much less.
Mike Lawler represents New York’s Hudson Valley space within the US Home of Representatives.
