The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 18, 2024
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Gerrymandering, the manipulation of voting district boundaries to engineer an election outcome which benefits a particular party, had a significant impact on control of the new Congress, according to a new report.
The Brennan Center for Justice found over four of five Congressional districts were won by a margin over 10%, including 90 percent of the GOP House majority. Within that number, 132 GOP winners were in districts with winning margins of 25% or more, and 112 by a Democrat.
In comparison, only 37 districts nationwide were decided by five percent or less, and only 19 districts were competitive enough to flip.
The Brennan Center points to North Carolina as a state which, after a more liberal Supreme Court was flipped conservative in 2022, replaced the previous court’s 7 to 7 competitive maps, with the legislature’s gerrymandered version, resulting in a 10 to 4 GOP Congressional seat advantage.
The most effective solution to gerrymandering at the moment is citizen-led independent redistricting, which has been successful in producing fairer and more competitive maps in California, Michigan, Utah and a handful of other states. In November, Ohio voters rejected such a commission, due in part to an attempt by elected officials to derail it. Brennan found that independent commissions, citizen-led or otherwise, drew only 82 Congressional districts this cycle, but those districts were three times more competitive.
We have the Brennan Center’s report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – How Gerrymandering and Fair Maps Affected the Battle for the House
FactCheck.org – Speaker Johnson’s Partisan Spin on Gerrymandering in the 2024 Election
National Conference of State Legislatures – Redistricting Commissions: State Legislative Plans
Campaign Legal Center – Independent Redistricting Commissions
Campaign Legal Center – Movement to Establish Citizen-Led Redistricting Commissions in the States
California Citizens Redistricting Commission – What is the Commission?
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause, Represent.Us, League of Women Voters US
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #EndGerrymandering #FairMaps #RiggedDistricts