Musings: Court's rulings alter voting
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling now permits states like Alabama to rapidly redraw maps, further undermining federal protections against discriminatory gerrymandering. Credit: AP/Mariam Zuhaib
Recent decisions by the Supreme Court have only added more fuel to the current nationwide gerrymandering free-for-all.
The court essentially ruled that it would not get involved in gerrymandering if it is partisan political manipulation, as this is a states' rights issue and not a federal one. The justices would get involved only if the issue was purely discrimination as per the 14th Amendment.
Further, the court's ruling last Monday now permits states like Alabama to rapidly redraw maps, further undermining federal protections against discriminatory gerrymandering.
But that raises the question: Doesn't partisan policymaking, irrespective of the state or federal level, have human rights implications that cross all state lines? It impacts universal issues such as access to health care, child care, voting rights, reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental rights and more. Because of the court's rulings, and aggressive moves by the parties since last year, gerrymandering has become a divisive mad dash to rig federal elections in many states by both sides of the aisle.
National legislation appears to be a reasonable solution, with a bipartisan independent commission setting the rules and districting protocols for uniformity across all 50 states, rather than having the parties in power design peculiarly shaped districts to meet their biased political goals.
Can you imagine a national championship in football if every state had different field dimensions to cater to the strengths of their home teams? There would be no uniformity and only built-in bias in determining a true champion.
In the interim, the Supreme Court needs to reconsider the havoc that it has unleashed and reengage in preventing the chaotic and abusive partisan political gerrymandering that on issues affects our entire nation, irrespective of state boundaries.
Rory Sadoff, Massapequa
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