Partisan gerrymandering is a term used to describe the manipulation of voting district boundaries with the intention of giving one political party an advantage over others. It involves redrawing the boundaries in a way that concentrates supporters of one party into a few districts, while spreading opponents across several districts. This practice allows the party in control to gain more seats in elections, even if they do not have majority support among voters.
Full definition
Your veto threat and our advocacy have helped focus public discussion on the need to end once and for all the self - interested, legislative - driven process
of partisan gerrymandering in New York State, and achieve our shared goal of replacing it with an impartial process that creates fairer lines and more representative districts.
The Supreme Court started the current term in October with a docket that could have a lasting impact on politics and culture, including major cases
on partisan gerrymandering and LGBT rights, but six months later, the justices haven't crossed off much on their to - do list, points out Todd Ruger for Roll Call.
Marcia Coyle, the NLJ's chief Washington correspondent, sits down with Paul Smith, vice president for litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, to dig into the Supreme Court's two
partisan gerrymandering cases this term.
Also in January, a three - judge federal court panel in Pennsylvania, in a challenge to that state's congressional remap, held 2 - 1 that no claims
for partisan gerrymandering could be brought in federal courts under the elections clause in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.
The Missouri Supreme Court «agreed with the trial court's decision to dismiss several counts (including
partisan gerrymandering claims), but remanded for a determination of whether the congressional districts (particularly districts 3 and 5) were sufficiently compact under state constitutional law.»
Next: In a first, federal court strikes down North Carolina congressional remap as partisan gerrymander
Anyone intrigued by how complicated redistricting should take a look at the New York City Bar Association's 2007 proposal, «A proposed New York State Constitutional Amendment to emancipate redistricting
from partisan gerrymanders: partisanship channeled for fair line - drawing.»
This state constitutional amendment will ban
partisan gerrymandering by outlawing legislative maps drawn for political advantage.»
Roll Call political reporter Bridget Bowman explains the party's boosted targets for opportunity now that one of the nation's most
partisan gerrymandered maps has been re-colored in purple.
«Democrats are extremely fired up right now,» said Sam Wang, a Princeton University neuroscientist and statistician who has developed a statistical model for
analyzing partisan gerrymandering.
Despite the Senate Republicans» attempts to marginalize her
through partisan gerrymandering, she will prevail in any primary or general election with the full support of her Conference and our partners.»
Mann wrote, «Redistricting is a deeply political process, with incumbents actively seeking to minimize the risk to themselves (via bipartisan gerrymanders) or to gain additional seats for their party (
via partisan gerrymanders).»
The professors argue that holding a convention could bolster ethics reform in New York,
curb partisan gerrymandering and reform the state's judicial system.
The 2012 election provides a number of examples as to
how partisan gerrymandering can adversely affect the descriptive function of states» congressional delegations.
The
phrase partisan gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district maps with the intention of favoring one political party over another.
While not the worst offender, Ohio still has a great deal of
partisan gerrymandering according to research from the Brennan Center, a non-partisan public policy and law institute in D.C. Republicans have held the state governorship and controlled majority of the state and national legislative seats for years.
Supporters of a November ballot amendment on redistricting say the amendment will help prevent
rampant partisan gerrymandering when the next district lines are drawn in the New York Senate and Assembly.
Mr. Cuomo can improve the chances for real electoral reform by repeatedly reaffirming his vow to veto any redistricting plan «that
reflects partisan gerrymandering.»
While New York is deeply blue in aggregate — Hillary Clinton carried Trump's home state by more than 20 points — the 2012 round of redistricting saw House seats drawn by a federal court rather than subjected to
normal partisan gerrymandering, which made several seats politically competitive.
Three psychology researchers have taken it upon themselves to solve the nationwide problem of
partisan gerrymandering using a computer algorithm.
«The fact that the Supreme Court agreed to hear a second one of these
[partisan gerrymandering] cases means this is really the chance» to establish a standard for such claims, Hasen says.
(Most of the
other partisan gerrymandering claims have been based on the First Amendment's speech and association rights or the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.)
And perhaps the most politically charged case of the term, Gill v. Whitford, No. 16 - 1161, asks the Court to develop the judicial standards for assessing claims of
unlawful partisan gerrymandering.
Justice Ginsburg asked what would happen to the «precious» right to vote if Wisconsin -
like partisan gerrymandering grew broadly acceptable.
Echoing Justice Kennedy's concurrence in Vieth, the plaintiffs argue that, in addition to the Equal Protection Clause,
partisan gerrymanders also implicate the First Amendment right to freedom of association.
Unlike the other cases, Gill v. Whitford and Benisek v. Lamone, which
involved partisan gerrymandering, this case involves allegations of racially discriminatory redistricting in violation of the Voting Rights Act and / or the Equal Protection Clause.
It happened several weeks before the Supreme Court heard arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a Wisconsin case that was the first major lawsuit
about partisan gerrymandering to be taken up by the justices in 14 years.
Prop 1 will ban
partisan gerrymandering by outlawing the drawing of legislative maps for political advantage, positioning New York as a national leader on redistricting reform.
Justice Gorsuch argued that
partisan gerrymandering claims arise under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, which requires the federal government to «guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,» and which the Court has long dismissed as giving rise only to non-justiciable political questions.
Court rulings around the nation have also reduced the effects
of partisan gerrymandering, leaving the G.O.P. potentially more vulnerable to the effects of a wave election.
«This agreement will permanently reform the redistricting process in New York to once and for all end self - interested and
partisan gerrymandering,» Cuomo said in March 2012.