Gerrymandering is wrong.
On April 29th, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a voting map in Louisiana on the grounds that it used race to create congressional districts. This ruling explicitly allows for gerrymandering on a political basis, stating states “must ‘disentangle race from politics’ by proving ‘that the former drove a district’s lines.’”
A vast majority of Americans believe that gerrymandering is wrong. According to a Rasmussen poll, 88% of voters consider it a serious problem. However, a poll by Politico shows both Democrats and Republicans are in favor of redistricting to allow their side to win.
I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.
In July of 2025, President Trump explicitly called on the state of Texas to redraw their congressional maps. Texas ultimately did pass new districts prompting California to pass their own initiative, which was passed by the state’s voters in November.
While Texas and California grabbed the largest headlines, many other states have followed suit including
Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia with Maryland, New York, and others discussing the possibility, or having voted on changes.
Historically, the Supreme Court has used the “Purcell Principle” to try to discourage last minute changes by federal courts to elections. In a Wisconsin case in 2020, Brett Kavanaugh wrote: “It is one thing for state legislatures to alter their own election rules in the late innings and to bear the responsibility for any unintended consequences. It is quite another thing for a federal district court to swoop in and alter carefully considered and democratically enacted state election rules when an election is imminent.”
In Louisiana, absentee voting had already begun when a new map was introduced and 40,000 ballots will be discarded. In the case of Missouri, the state Supreme Court upheld the new map while the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down their effort and the U.S. Supreme Court let the decision stand. While that order was unsigned, it was also not a major surprise as Article 1; Section 4 of the Constitution gives the power of elections to the states.
As states continue to take action to change electoral maps, or contemplate changes to elections laws, I see no reason to expect these sweeping changes to slow down in the months ahead. Rather, I would like to discuss options for reigning in gerrymandering, as I reiterate that gerrymandering is wrong.
Revisit Apportionment
According to the Constitution, Article I; Section 2, “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative”. This puts an upper bound on the size of Congress, but no lower bound. While the size of the United States House of Representatives was set to 435 in 1911, the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which remains in effect today kept the size of the House unchanged.
As I have mentioned in the past, one major point of contention from the Anti-Federalists when the Constitution was being debated was the size of Congress, particularly the House of Representatives. In Cato’s Letter V from 1787, it was argued “that the number of representatives are too few”. In Federalist No. 55, James Madison referenced the attacks on the number of representatives saying of opponents, “so small a number of representatives will be an unsafe depositary of the public interests” and “they will not possess a proper knowledge of the local circumstances of their numerous constituents.”
Moreover, Madison’s original draft of the Bill of Rights introduced to Congress stated “there would not be more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons”. As of 2023, there were an estimated 761,169 constituents for every representative.
Greatly increasing the number of Representatives would make it much more difficult to gerrymander, as it would be more difficult to put each political minority into a larger group of the majority.
Create Rules for Redistricting
Stopping gerrymandering is a notoriously difficult problem. I don’t know exactly what rules should be in place for redistricting, but a few come to mind:
- Redistricting must be within one year of the Census release
- Redistricting cannot be within six months of the start of voting – and define voting, as the case referenced previously in Virginia ultimately relied on that definition.
- Require the creation of independent commissions to help mitigate the problem.
Tell me your ideas to combat gerrymandering!
Sources:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdf
Gerrymandering Problem ‘Very Serious,’ Voters Say – Rasmussen Reports®
The POLITICO Poll: Redistricting fight has voters supporting partisan gerrymandering – POLITICO
Trump tells Texas Republicans to redistrict to help keep GOP House majority | AP News
GOP wins Texas redistricting fight despite Democratic walkout attempt | Fox News
Newsom signs California redistricting plan that could tilt 5 House seats toward Democrats – CBS News
Alabama lawmakers approve new US House primary, if courts allow it | AP News
Missouri Senate OKs redistricting and initiative petition plans | STLPR
The latest redistricting salvo: North Carolina gerrymanders out House Democrat – POLITICO
Republicans notch redistricting win in Ohio — but it could have been worse for Democrats – POLITICO
Tennessee approves new congressional map that dissolves majority Black district – CBS News
DeSantis unveils new GOP-friendly congressional map on eve of special session – POLITICO
Louisiana lawmakers advance new 5-1 congressional map that favors Republicans – CBS News
Virginia votes for redistricting, giving Democrats a boost : NPR
Maryland lawmakers reject effort to redraw congressional map to boost Democrats | AP News
New York lawmakers eye multiple redistricting amendments – POLITICO
Purcell principle | Election Law, US Supreme Court, Purcell v. Gonzalez, & Voters | Britannica
Supreme Court faces new criticism for changing redistricting law close to 2026 elections
Louisiana to delay House primaries after Supreme Court redistricting ruling
Louisiana lawmakers advance new 5-1 congressional map that favors Republicans – CBS News
Missouri Supreme Court hands GOP a win in redistricting battle – POLITICO
Court rejects Virginia redistricting in a blow to Democrats : NPR
Supreme Court rejects Virginia Democrats’ bid to revive new congressional map – CBS News
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription | National Archives
Redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections – Ballotpedia
State Voting Laws Roundups | Brennan Center for Justice
Apportionment Act of 1911 – Wikipedia
Reapportionment Act of 1929 – Wikipedia
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription | National Archives
The Bill of Rights: A Transcription | National Archives
United States congressional apportionment – Wikipedia
Can independent commissions create fair voting districts? | Harvard Kennedy School
