This week, Republican-led legislatures continued to discard people’s right to fair representation and pushed forward with drawing partisan, gerrymandered maps to ensure they have the voters that they and their political allies want in their districts. Meanwhile, Arizona finished its sham review of the 2020 election and Texas began their own fake review, because Donald Trump told them to, specifically targeting counties with large Black, brown, and Asian communities.
As Republican politicians continue to undermine faith in our elections and work to rig new redistricting maps in their favor while taking away free and fair representation from voters, it becomes even more important for the Senate to quickly pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which would end partisan gerrymandering, set standards for post-election audits, and ensure that voters are choosing their representatives, not the other way around.
See below for highlights of how Republican politicians undermine trust in our democracy and are working to protect themselves and their political allies through gerrymandering:
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Arizona completed its fake review of the free and fair 2020 election, which wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money and sowed further distrust in our democracy in an effort to limit the freedom to vote.
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Texas GOP politicians began their own sham election review at the request of former President Trump, where they will specifically seek to restrict the voice and vote of four of Texas’ largest and most diverse counties. In addition, Texas Republicans have begun their partisan gerrymandering effort, packing enough of the voters they want into certain districts to make sure that their politicians will be re-elected.
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Indiana Republican politicians approved a map that would make certain they have the voters they want in each district to lock themselves into a supermajority and aid one of their political ally’s re-election campaign.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called a special session for redistricting, where he and his fellow Republican politicians plan to pack the voters they don’t want to represent into a separate district, creating even more power for themselves in other districts.
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Voting rights groups are suing the state of Ohio to ensure that the people of the state get to choose their representatives after Ohio GOP politicians ignored the voice and vote of 75% of Ohio voters, drawing districts that give them the voters they want instead of voters choosing their elected representatives.
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