Gerrymandering, or manipulating electoral maps to favor a certain party or class, has been a part of US politics for almost two centuries. According to the Library of Congress, the term originally poked fun at Massachusetts Gov. Gerry, who helped redraw state senate electoral districts in favor of his Democratic-Republican party in 1812. The Boston Gazette, a local paper, noted in an editorial cartoon that one strangely shaped district looked a lot like a salamander. With that, the term “Gerry-mander” was born and the rest was history.
Unfortunately, this “gerry-mander” is still slithering through our politics today. As many of us know, Congressional midterm elections start next year, and every seat matters.
That’s why both parties have turned to gerrymandering to gain a potential edge this fall. The most notable Democratic effort is a Californian referendum called Proposition 50, while Republicans have passed gerrymandered maps in Texas, Missouri and other states. There was even an effort to gerrymander Kansas’ own congressional boundaries in a Nov. 7 special legislative session. However, it failed to pick up steam.
The MHS Editorial Board believes that gerrymandering goes against our nation’s core principles of representative government. Is there a point to voting if political parties can pick and choose who is voting for them?
Redistricting, or redrawing electoral districts, was intended to account for population shifts and better represent minority groups. In many states, congressional districts are redrawn once per decade after the US census. The last time districts were changed was 2020, and the next redistricting year is 2030. Redistricting in 2025 clearly indicates that the practice is being abused for partisan gain, which is unacceptable.
It’s easy to condemn gerrymandering, but it’s much harder to fight it. Fortunately, there are a few measures you can support to get rid of gerrymandering for good.
Restricting redistricting to a decennial interval, unless someone presents compelling evidence that the population has shifted enough to merit a change, would impede extraneous redistricting or gerrymandering efforts. Changing state or federal law to require bipartisan or independent redistricting commissions, rather than state legislatures, to draw electoral maps would separate partisan politics from election integrity, giving elections back to American voters. And overturning court precedent to make partisan gerrymandering illegal and unconstitutional — just like its nasty cousin, racial gerrymandering — would be a truer reflection of a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
Gerrymandering must go. It may not be unconstitutional, but it’s unnecessary, unethical, and undemocratic.
So let’s learn from our history and get rid of the gerrymander.
