Unnoticed and Unrepresented: The Unfair Advantage [EDITORIAL]

A June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court raised the question of whether Wisconsin state’s legislative boundaries were drawn in a fair way. State Sen. Dave Hansen said that Wisconsin is in the top two, if not the most gerrymandered state in the country. A federal court had also stated that maps drawn in 2011 by Wisconsin Republicans, were the most heavily skewed to one party of any plan in the country, dating back all the way back over 40 years. Therefore, the board believes that the GOP redistricting was wrong and designed to gain an unfair advantage, while leaving voters in certain boundaries left unnoticed and unrepresented.

Research regarding the GOP’s redistricting efforts shows that the lines that were drawn, purposefully were set to impede certain voters in certain boundaries. The redistricting occurring in Wisconsin clearly shows a partisan grab by the GOP, to pile up an unfair advantage against majority of Wisconsin voters. A divided three-judge panel of the United States District Court in Maryland took another look at the first case the court took up (Lamone v. Benisek) and ruled that the challenged district was unconstitutional, and then ordered them to draw new ones. SCOTUS also ruled that racial gerrymandering can violate the Constitution.

Not only does the gerrymandering occurring in Wisconsin that took place this decade pre-determine electoral results, but it also gives an unfair advantage for one party over the other. Extreme gerrymandered like Wisconsin lead to an estimated 16-17 Republican seats in Congress. For example, elections from 2012 through 2018, have shown that the Wisconsin legislative map has ensured Republican control of the Assembly even during years where there are clearly significantly more voters that are voting Democratic throughout the state. In 2012, the state Assembly map that the Republicans drew – oddly showed they won 60 of the 99 seats in the Wisconsin Assembly despite winning less than 50 percent of the two-party state-wide vote. Another example of this occurring, in 2014, they won 63 seats in Wisconsin Assembly with just a little over 50 percent of the state-wide vote. The board has found these results head-scratching and unusual for a state like Wisconsin. Historically, statewide elections are typically very close, and voters for both parties are evenly spread out across the state.

The ruling in this Wisconsin case will have an important impact for the next round of redistricting in 2021. The case may prepare challenges to around half a dozen congressional maps that present extreme partisan bias. University of Sydney professor Simon Jackman predicts that legislative maps near a dozen states could be presented to challenge for extreme partisan bias.

Gerrymandering is a problem that isn’t going to be fixed overnight. However, a ruling from SCOTUS declaring that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, might possibly create some limits that legislatures will be forced to follow next time they draw their maps. The GOP redistricting was wrong and designed to clearly gain an unfair advantage. This is an obvious attempt to permanently establish power against the will and votes of Americans, and therefore the U.S. Supreme Court should render it unconstitutional.