Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Today, Common Cause filed a brief in Common Cause v. Rucho urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a stay request of a federal court ruling which ordered that the North Carolina Legislature redraw the state’s unconstitutionally gerrymandered congressional districts by January 24. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina Middle District ruled last week that the Legislature had unconstitutionally drawn congressional district lines with the intent and effect of creating a severe partisan advantage for one side.

North Carolina legislative leaders are doubling down on their investment in un-representative democracy this morning, appealing a scathing federal court decision that congressional districts they fashioned in 2016 are an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Today, Common Cause filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in support of a challenge to the state’s extreme partisan political gerrymander. Despite a roughly equal split in votes between the parties in each election since the 2011 redistricting, Republicans have consistently won 13 of the state’s 18 congressional seats. If successful, the case could result in the Court ordering the redrawing of the districts before the 2018 election.

The next time someone tells you that your vote is meaningless, so why bother casting it, ask if they’ve ever heard of Shelly Simonds and David Yancey.

Republicans had stunning success after the 2010 Tea Party wave election tilting the rules of our election processes in their favor. But there are a number of reasons to think that the times may be changing.

The Trump administration appears ready to install a gerrymandering advocate in the number two job at the Census Bureau.