‘REDISTRICTING BATTLE’ CONTINUES

On Thursday September 3rd the state court of Missouri blocked a new house map that would add one more Republican seat to the House of Representatives, in which Missouri has two Democratic seats and six Republican seats. This is called partisan gerrymandering and by the Constitution, is not illegal, but to a point. Each party lately has been seen doing this action to many different states, so what does this mean? The House of Representatives is based on the population of each state and the districts. Now, it was made illegal for a senator or representative of a state to reroute a district around race, for obvious reasons. However, you can redraw a district around a party. In other words with partisan gerrymandering, if either the Democrat or Republican party chooses to add another member of their party to the House, they will redraw a district red or blue. This usually is common after a census (a collection of population every ten years.) However, starting with Texas redrawing the state before the ten year mark, other states began redrawing their districts as a domino effect to get back at the other party. 

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

This is not a directly illegal action but it is a slippery slope that can cause complete chaos and more division in the US. If every state is focused on a battle of political parties, where is the actual representation in the house coming from? And is your voice actually being heard or are you a pawn in the political game of chess?

WHY NOW?

In my educated opinion, I believe this redistricting war is going on right now because of the increase of polarization in America, (the main two parties being driven away from compromise and towards allegiances to only one side.) I imagine this an issue that only an unbiased court can fix by ending the outbreak of gerrymandering.

WHO DECIDES THIS?

You essentially decide each redistricting or possible gerrymandering, based on who you vote for in your states. This impacts the seats given to each party in a presidential election! The senators and representatives you vote for, directly impact these decisions so make sure to get informed and VOTE! Your voice matters.

THINGS TO KNOW:

  • Both parties have engaged in this partisan gerrymandering and although this was started by the Republican party in Texas, this is an issue on both hands because it is not in the ten year fashion of the census.

  • Redistricting and Gerrymandering are two different things, redistricting is done by population, while gerrymandering is done specifically to favor a certain group. While they might work with one another, that doesn't mean they are the same.

  • Partisan gerrymandering is up to the states to decide because it is not stated in the Constitution that the Federal government has this power over the states. This means that for this case, it is within the Missouri state court right to deny this proposition by state legislature.

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