Reference no: EM133655806

Assignment:

Brennan Center for Justice

Princeton Gerrymandering Project

Video:

One Person, One Vote? Don't miss watching this video as you respond.

Below is a visual explanation of how gerrymandering works. Very few citizens actually understand the way in which the principle of "one person, one vote" is supposed to be created and maintained. The video, One Person, One Vote, gives a clear account of the history of reapportionment before gerrymandering. Basically, gerrymandering is an attempt to disallow that principle by creating an advantage for one group (or party) over the other. The graphic below demonstrates how that works. You can substitute groups and understand why gerrymandering is so destructive and difficult to control. For example, in a given district blue might represent Black voters and red could represent White voters. In example 1, Black voters would control 3 of the districts and could elect 3 representatives of their choice. In example 2, Black voters would have an unfair advantage based on how the lines were drawn. And in example 3, White voters would be able to elect a majority of the representatives in spite of being a minority of the population in that area.

While certainly proof of citizenship and purging voter rolls based on faulty assumptions or evidence also affect the ability of citizens who should be able to vote to actually cast a ballot or to make a ballot count, arguably redistricting (or gerrymandering) are damaging in ways that activist citizens have difficulty countering.

In the video One Person One Vote, Justice Bryer says that before the Supreme Court established the principle of "one person, one vote" the United States was "a nation of minority rule." Today, we see gerrymandering creating the same effect. If I am a "red voter" in Example 2 above, I would have no representation and my vote would not count at all. While not as extreme, Example 3 has the same effect in diminishing the power of the vote of blue citizens.

As we discussed in Reading Response 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act would limit the ability of states to create gerrymandered districts, but Republicans in the Senate have blocked even allowing a vote on this legislation.

I have given you three websites (links above) that track and discuss gerrymandering. All are reputable and are based on facts and data.

Choose one of those websites and consider the following:

• Does this website and discussion help you understand the problem that is gerrymandering?
• If you choose one state and go in depth with the information about its redistricting, what do you find? Does anything you discover surprise you?
• Are we or are we not in danger today of becoming a country of minority rule?

Give a reason for your answer.