Throughout the country, self-serving Republican politicians are moving at a rapid pace to draw partisan gerrymandered maps that deny voters fair and equal representation.
In Ohio, despite promising in 2018 that he would ensure a bipartisan redistricting process and admitting that the proposed gerrymandered maps were borderline unconstitutional, this past weekend Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed off on new congressional maps drawn by Republicans in a blatant partisan power grab. The maps deliberately deny fair and equal representation to Ohio voters and ignore the voices of over 75% of Ohioans, who in 2018 made it clear that they wanted bipartisan maps.
Ohio’s maps are yet another example of partisan Republicans gerrymandering districts to benefit their political allies and undermine voters’ voices in attempts to win back power and dilute the voting power of minority voters. Georgia and Texas Republicans recently passed egregious gerrymanders that were drawn exclusively to benefit themselves and their political allies in a partisan power grab. Other GOP-led states that have passed gerrymandered maps this cycle include Alabama, North Carolina, and Utah.
A new report from the New York Times outlined how the Supreme Court decision in 2019, Rucho v. Common Cause, has made it much more difficult to successfully challenge these gerrymandered maps.
To counter these partisan power grabs, the U.S. Senate must act quickly to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to put an end to partisan gerrymandering and ensure voters choose their elected representatives, not the other way around. The Freedom to Vote Act would also allow for easier and accelerated court challenges to maps that undermine the voice and vote of the people. Procedure and loopholes cannot continue to stand in the way of ensuring Americans are equally and fairly represented.
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