Gerrymandering/Redistricting

These decisions by the Ohio Supreme Court are tremendous wins for every Ohio voter, and for all Americans whose voting rights are being undermined by shameless gerrymandering. No politicians should be given carte blanche to cherry-pick and distort rules to maintain their power, to undermine democracy for the sake of partisan gain.

“The manipulation of districts is the manipulation of elections and voters have had enough,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a plaintiff. “We expect legislative leaders to learn from their mistakes and finally listen to the people’s call for fair maps.”

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, “to ensure that voters can safely and freely cast their ballots, repair and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, protect against election sabotage, stop partisan and racial gerrymandering, and limit the influence of dark money in politics so that billionaires can’t buy elections.” The letter emphasizes that already this year, 19 states have enacted 34 restrictive voting laws that make it harder for Americans – particularly in Black and Brown communities - to have a say in choosing their elected leaders. The letter also notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote this legislation in our Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members.   

"These maps intentionally discriminate against Georgians of color by silencing our voices at the ballot box," Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, the lead plaintiff in the case, said in a statement.

“The evidence clearly showed that Republican legislative leaders brazenly ignored legal requirements designed to protect voting rights for Black North Carolinians,” the group’s executive director, Bob Phillips, said in a statement. “If allowed to stand, these extreme gerrymanders would cause profound and lasting harm to the people of our state.”

In the United States, we are stronger when every American votes, when every American has a say in the future of this country. President Biden made very clear today that he knows we are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history and that a Republican minority in the U.S. Senate must not be allowed to turn back the clock and allow a new generation of Jim Crow laws to take root. He clearly stated that the Senate rules must not tolerated when they strip Americans – particularly Black and Brown Americans - of their fundamental right to vote. Those rules must be changed if they are abused. Simple majorities in state legislatures are deciding who can vote and who cannot while the filibuster has allowed a minority in the Senate to prevent Congress from acting to prevent voter suppression and protect the voting rights of every American.