Redistricting Reimagined

Every 10 years, with the release of new population census data, states are responsible for redrawing their congressional and state legislative districts. This is to ensure that the populations within each district are distributed equally and to preserve communities with similar political interests. However, in recent redistricting processes, especially the one currently happening nationwide, the debate over gerrymandering pops back into the minds of many Americans.

Gerrymandering as defined by Merriam-Webster is “the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections.” Of course, gerrymandering isn’t quite this simple, as there are several districts that may look gerrymandered. One of these is Illinois’ fourth district, which often headlines as a prime example of gerrymandering, despite existing as a Hispanic-majority district so that the Hispanic community of Illinois is ensured equal representation and can send a representative to congress. Districts like Texas’ second district, however, intentionally work around and split minority communities so that the representatives of that district are more likely to be Republican.

Gerrymandering is an inherently anti-democratic strategy that, in the current political atmosphere, both parties utilize to attempt to maintain as many seats in Congress as possible. This means the House of Representatives currently isn’t and will likely remain unrepresentative of the will of the people nationwide. In order to protect our nation and its institutions, it’s time to put an end to partisan gerrymandering.

There are a number of bills introduced by legislators that would achieve this goal, such as the For The People Act introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) or the Redistricting Reform Act introduced by Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Both of these bills would ban gerrymandering at a federal level. This idea has received pushback by many as it could be seen as a federal overstep on a state’s rights. However, Congress has made overarching rules about how states are to seat representatives in the past, banning multi-member districts in 1967, and banning gerrymandering would fall in the same vein of laws as this.

With the American political landscape becoming increasingly polarized and toxic, Congress should act to take steps to prevent a full meltdown. By banning gerrymandering and ensuring that every single American is represented fairly and equally in congress, we can ensure a better and more equitable system to help restore and rebuild a more sustainable American politics.