OK class, today we will learn about gerrymandering. The Oxford dictionary defines gerrymandering as follows,

manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class.

The word, gerrymander, originated back in 1812, when governor Elbridge Jerry signed a bill, redrawing Senate districts in Massachusetts, which would favour his party. One of the districts drawn, looked like a salamander. Hence the word gerrymander.

In the US, a population census is held every 10 years. Voting districts are redrawn after each census to reflect population changes. Each state has their own system in redrawing voting districts, as per the map above. In many cases, districts are redrawn by state legislatures. In some cases, such as in California and New York, they are drawn up by independent commissions.

Gerrymandering has been going on for decades. The Supreme Court, back in 2019, ruled that federal courts have no authority to determine whether partisan gerrymandering has gone too far. Chief Justice Roberts wrote,

“The Constitution supplies no objective measure for assessing whether a districting map treats a political party fairly.”

I know a person, in Michigan, where he stated that his voting district looks like a barbell. Each side of the barbell are loaded with Republican voters and there’s a straight line connecting the two barbells. Insanity.

The Republicans have a slim margin in the House of Representatives. They run the risk of losing control of the house in the 2026 midterms. Texas, currently a red state with a Republican state legislature is set to redraw its voting districts, this year. This is rare in one way because it should be done after each census and not halfway through, which is what is being done here. The state legislature has redrawn the districts such that Republicans would get five more seats. Democrats in the state legislature have fled the state such that a quorum cannot be present and a vote to approve that redrawing of the voting districts cannot be held. These Democrats are facing arrest.

Democrat supporters are saying that this is war, political war. They are saying that states like California and New York, which has democrat run. State legislatures should do the same. It’s not that simple though. If you look at the map, above, you will see that it is independent commissions that redraw voting district district in those two states.

The American system is just nuts. Just plain crazy.

That is all I have for today.