How Gerrymandering is Killing the American Democracy

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

The periodic redistricting of electoral maps should be an opportunity to ensure fair and equal representation for all citizens based on the latest census data. However, the reality is that redistricting has become a tool for entrenched political powers to fortify their advantages through the practice of gerrymandering — the manipulation of district boundaries for partisan gain.

Gerrymandering distorts the principle of “one person, one vote” in a democratic system. By packing opposition voters into a limited number of districts or cracking them across multiple districts, the party controlling redistricting can maximize the number of seats it wins while minimizing the opposition’s representation. District lines get contorted into bizarre, unnatural shapes that sever traditional communities in the pursuit of partisan superiority over democratic fairness.

The consequences of such gerrymandered maps are both philosophical and practical. At its core, gerrymandering runs counter to core democratic values of political equality, freedom of association, and the consent of the governed. When voters are segregated and marginalized based on their likely partisan preferences, faith in the system erodes. Gerrymandered districts undermine the political power of certain communities and make a sizeable proportion of their votes ineffective…