Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Dan Vicuna with Common Cause joined me today to dive into the ⁠C.H.A.R.G.E. batch of report cards for each state's redistricting efforts⁠, and - surprise - ⁠Georgia got a D⁠. IN fact, 18 of the 20 failing states are GOP-controlled.

“For too long public dialogue about redistricting has focused almost exclusively on the partisan horse race,” said Dan Vicuña, national redistricting director for Common Cause, one of the organizations in the coalition. “It’s undeniable that manipulation of voting districts for political advantage is a direct threat to the health of our democracy. However, that threat doesn’t derive from which party is up or down at a given moment. It derives from the slicing and dicing of communities into districts in ways that make it impossible for their residents to have an effective voice in Congress, state legislatures and local government.”

The coalition hub, which included the national Common Cause and the National Congress of American Indians, talked to over 2,000 people involved in the redistricting process in all 50 states. Dan Vicuña, director of redistricting and representation for Common Cause, a voting-rights nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C., said in an interview those compiling the report put less focus on partisan conflicts and court cases and more on “whether public input was implemented in the maps.” He said while the coalition hub did study court cases, it did not take them into account when finalizing the report card’s grades. New Mexico is one of at least 15 states still involved with litigation stemming from redistricting efforts, Vicuña wrote in an email.

“This redistricting cycle in Ohio provided a textbook example of the lengths elected officials will go to prioritize partisanship over fair representation for the public,” the report by Common Cause stated, adding that Republican lawmakers and redistricting commission members showed a “complete disregard... for the rule of law in Ohio.”

Gavin Geis, director of Common Cause Nebraska, said a C+ is a fair grade for Nebraska. He said he believes Nebraska’s maps ended up pretty good, yet the redistricting process had issues with public access, transparency and politicization. Besides three public hearings across the state on the proposed maps, Geis said, it was difficult to get committee members to engage with public input. He said lawmakers largely ignored suggested maps proposed by community organizations. “Citizens’ work on this is why we had good maps,” said Geis, who contributed to the Nebraska aspect of the CHARGE report. The national Common Cause organization is one of groups involved with the coalition. Many of the states scoring better than Nebraska have independent groups that conduct or aid the redistricting process. Geis said the proper way to redraw political districts is to do so without elected officials, who have a clear stake in the outcome. Redistricting power won’t be something lawmakers give up willingly, Geis said, so a citizen-led ballot initiative would be the way to change Nebraska’s system. Such an initiative was attempted in 2020 but didn’t make it to the ballot — something Geis attributes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A coalition of national organizations advocating for a stronger democracy published a report today evaluating redistricting efforts across all 50 states, awarding just two states with an “A” grade while 20 states earned a “D” or an “F” for their failures in transparency, opportunities for public input, nonpartisanship, and empowerment of communities of color.