The new motto for states redistricting congressional maps out of normal cycle should be, “If you can’t beat them, cheat them.”
Enough Indiana Republicans had the courage to defeat proposed mid-cycle redistricting in December. With no good deed going unpunished, some of those lawmakers were rewarded with primary losses. But that doesn’t deflect from the valor they showed by refusing to let Washington D.C. pressure cloud their judgment.
Unfortunately, lawmakers in other states – Democrats and Republicans – haven’t followed suit. Gerrymandering is the play of the day, and hyper-partisan politicians aren’t even attempting to hide their intentions. They want their party to have power, regardless of the precedent they’re setting.
Instead of letting voters fairly decide who represents their interests in Congress, states like Tennessee, California and Texas are pushing forward maps that fit together like a square peg in a round hole. Gerrymandering efforts in other states have, thankfully, been paused by courts.
California has Republicans. Texas has Democrats. Sure, elections have consequences, but midterm redistricting to silence your opponents isn’t democratic. It’s juvenile and dangerous.
History has taught us that no party stays in power for long, at least not nationally. Cheating your opponents out of representation may work in the short-term, but those tactics could be revisited upon the aggressors down the road. That turns our political system into an eye-for-an-eye merry-go-round.
While not voting is inexcusable, these gerrymandering efforts certainly don’t help turnout. They feed into the reasoning that votes don’t matter unless you’re supporting the party in power. They exacerbate straight-ticket voting and voter apathy.
It also won’t stop with congressional districts. As the Washington Post recently reported, Texas and California are pushing forward plans to basically eliminate minority representation in their statehouses. Neither party is without its faults, and creating a power vacuum will only suck the life out of honest debate and the consideration of different viewpoints. Those used to be foundational elements of our government, now they’re shunned and discarded to our detriment.
Democrats will say President Donald Trump started it. Republicans will blame Democrats for their past actions. Both sides have a point, but this isn’t kindergarten. Arguing over who started it doesn’t justify continuing the problem.
If we allow states to continue to redraw maps whenever it’s politically expedient, our country may never recover. We need bipartisan commissions to base districts fairly by utilizing data and common sense.
Though logic and reason are as common as balancing a budget in Washington D.C. these days, our states don’t have to follow the same path. Lawmakers must put aside the partisanship and remember they are Americans first, and their loyalty should be to their country ahead of political power.
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