What is Gerrymandering and Why is it Important?
WASHINGTON D. C. - With the SCOTUS in a new session, Gerrymandering has been one of the issues to resolve, the decision on this matter can be to impose constitutional rights which may have some consequences.
Gerrymandering is to “manipulate the boundaries of ( an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class,” according to the dictionary. In other words, Gerrymandering is when a voting district is sized a certain way in order for the votes to be an advantage to a certain party. How is this done? Well one way is–it can be done by placing the little wanted voters in a big cluster of opposed voters so that it is harder for the opposing voters to get someone they want in a seat. It all comes down to what side has the majority vote party, then the congressional and district seats [ of Representatives] will be chosen.
Who controls the district voting lines? For one, 37 states depend on their state legislator to do the job. Other seven states have only one representative and the remaining states, (six) have independent commissions for determining the districting within the state.
Some may ask, well are there any constitutional laws on this technique? The answer is no. Which is why the case has been brought up to the Supreme Court. It has been said by the Supreme Court that partisan ( meaning: biased) gerrymandering is unconstitutional. This does not mean that it is simple to solve the problem.
The case given to the Supreme Court is from Wisconsin, specifically the Democrats who express their concern for unequal representation of votes.
There are essentially two sides of the point. One, is that by enforcing constitutional rights on Gerrymandering, the Supreme Court can be seen as prejudiced because whether they choose to help those accusing the system or siding with the others. For example Chief Justice Roberts is concerned how the SCOTUS will be viewed if they take things as a political issue. He says, “ And the intelligent man on the street, [can believe that the Supreme Court will favor one party over the other, which] is going to cause very serious harm to the status and integrity of the decisions of this court in the eyes of the country."
The other point of view in this issue is the idea that Democrats will win if Gerrymandering is controlled to a certain extent. Right now, the Republicans have the upper hand in the administration. Then again, if the decision of the Supreme Court is not in favor of those who want regulations on this method, people may start losing faith in this democracy. Many people already believe that their votes are not valid. Senators , John McCain (R ) and Whitehouse (D) had something to say on this. They express, “ Partisan Gerrymandering distorts statewide votes, dilutes the effect of votes based on political affiliation, and leads to the election of of congressional and state legislative delegations that do not represent the will of the voters.”
This case is controversial and requires deep thought from the Supreme Court in order to not bash one side over the other without seeming biased. It has been said that within the Supreme Court, there is a hard line between the liberals and conservatives, totaling to 4 on each side. That leaves one out, the decision is in the hands of the Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is known as a swing voter.
