Our democracy is under attack. We feel it in our bones. Our vote—the foundation of our representative democracy—is being eroded. What’s happening is the result of gerrymandered electoral districts in states all over the country. This system allows the elected officials in power to draw electoral district maps that ensure the election and reelection of themselves and others who agree with them. It squeezes out people of color in particular, and all voters who want change from the status quo. This unfair drawing of maps has a corrosive impact on our democracy and is a form of voter suppression as effective as voter I.D. laws, voting-machine manipulation and poll taxes.
How does it happen? Who are the culprits? In most states, the legislature draws the electoral district maps. Depending on how these maps are drawn, they can determine who will be elected, and which incumbents will even be challenged.
Gerrymandering has been going on in one form or another for many years, led by both parties, but it has taken on new importance in the past decade. In response to Obama’s election in 2008, the G.O.P. systematically poured money into 2010 state legislative races, winning a record number. These conservative legislatures then redrew maps that were favorable to themselves based on the 2010 census. The results ensured their elections for the next 10 years.
Today, Presidential, Senate and House races dominate headlines and are very exciting. But the long-term safety of our democracy is deeply dependent on the low-visibility legislative, gubernatorial and even judicial races in each state. This is where the real work happens.
Fortunately, California has an independent citizens commission that draws our electoral district maps. But voters in most states are subject to the whim of their state legislatures in determining how their representatives are elected.
The Constitution mandates that Congressional districts be redrawn every 10 years after the census. The point of the census is to assign the appropriate number of seats in the House of Representatives to each state based upon the most recent population data. State legislatures will be elected in 2019 and 2020, the census will follow in 2020, and district maps will be re-drawn in 2021 by the legislatures that will be elected in 2019 and 2020. These maps will be critically important in determining who will and will not be elected in states and the Congress for the next 10 years.
This is where we come in. Each one of us can do something right now to defend our vote and our democracy. We can have an impact on upcoming 2019 and 2020 state legislative and gubernatorial races in key states by urging people to register and vote for candidates who support fair redistricting. Join with Indivisible West Marin, Mainstreet Moms and all of our partner progressive organizations in our efforts to expand access and allow more people to vote and have their votes count.
Want to know more, and specific things you can do from home? Join us on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the Point Reyes Community Presbyterian Church from 6 to 8 p.m. for an evening of education and engagement. “Gerrymandering and Voter Suppression: Why we should care and what we can do,” featuring speaker Victoria Bassetti, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York City. Ms. Bassetti is an authority on voter suppression and the author of “Electoral Dysfunction: A Survival Manual for American Voters.” Learn everything you need to know about how gerrymandering works and what we can each do to ensure every vote cast in our country counts.
Visit the Indivisible West Marin Facebook page to learn more about our work. You can sign up there to receive our weekly newsletter, which is also posted on West Marin Soapbox. Join us in our weekly post carding, texting and phone banking to voters in key states in which legislatures will be elected in 2019 and 2020. You can strike a blow against gerrymandering!
Mary Morgan, a Point Reyes Station resident, is a member of Mainstreet Moms and a co-founder of Indivisible West Marin.