Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “no” when the so-called “Equal Representation Act” (H.R. 7109) is expected to be brought to the floor later this afternoon. The proposed legislation would impede the U.S Census Bureau from performing its constitutionally mandated responsibility to count the number of persons in the United States each ten years in the Census. The bill also ignores the Constitution.

But it’s not just blue California. Michigan, four other states and 82 jurisdictions throughout the country have moved to independent redistricting. Why? Because voters should have the power to choose their leaders, not the other way around. And because voters should be able to participate in decisions that will affect the future for themselves and their families for the next decade. In state after state, people are deciding whether they want to allow elected leaders to put their power and partisanship above the people’s interest or give people the power to put our communities first.

“We’ve brought independent redistricting to communities big and small, and the outcome has consistently been fair maps for the voters” said Dan Vicuña, Common Cause Director of Redistricting & Representation.

Attorneys for groups such as Common Cause Florida and the Florida NAACP and other plaintiffs filed a motion Wednesday urging a three-judge panel to look again at whether the redistricting plan was passed in 2022 with a racially discriminatory motive. Wednesday’s motion for reconsideration said the judges incorrectly found that DeSantis’ intent “was all but irrelevant.” The lawsuit alleged that the map involved intentional discrimination and violated the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment. The 14th Amendment ensures equal protection, while the 15th Amendment prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote based on race. “First, the court erred by treating the governor as an outsider to the legislative process,” Wednesday’s motion said. “Unlike private citizens advocating for legislative action, the governor is himself a state actor directly subject to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. He may not discriminate on the basis of race when using state authority, any more than the Legislature can. No case law supports the notion that, where multiple state actors act jointly to bring about the challenged conduct, all of them must be driven by illegal consideration of race.”

With 2024 congressional races in full swing, Common Cause is again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. For the fifth cycle in a row, Members of the House and Senate have received letters from Common Cause asking them to co-sponsor and support up to ten democracy reform bills. The letters inform Members that their voting and co-sponsorship record will be published in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard,” which will be distributed to the organization’s 1.5 million members, as well as to state and national media, during the lead-up to Election Day.

"For the future of our commonwealth, we must take action to ensure that our districts are drawn transparently, fairly and in a way that is representative of the people of Pennsylvania," said Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania.