In the United States, partisan redistricting is perhaps the most egregious example of the powerful using their insider status to stymie a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Giving control over district boundary-drawing to legislators or a partisan committee gives license to the majority party to keep itself in power and to create safe seats for incumbents. This unfair practice exacerbates extremism, skews election results, and prevents policies supported by large majorities from becoming law. ERN advocates for independent redistricting commissions, which are now the norm in peer democracies. We also support bipartisan federal redistricting guidelines to surmount the state-level obstacle of “unilateral disarmament.” So far, ERN has supported successful redistricting reform initiatives in New Mexico, Utah, and Missouri.
ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson joined members of Congress at the Capitol this week for the launch of the Problem Solvers Caucus’ bipartisan redistricting reform package.
ERN's Heather Balas briefed congressional staffers on the Fair Rules, Fair Maps initiative, sponsored by the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, to put an end to redistricting once and for all.
The Problem Solvers Caucus has put forward four bipartisan redistricting reforms that deserve serious attention
California’s Prop 50 shows why fair redistricting matters. A few more seats won’t save democracy if the system itself stays rigged.
After almost four hours of rigorous questioning, the Utah Supreme Court today seemed poised to protect Utahns from unlawful partisan gerrymandering and potentially restore the force of the Better Boundaries initiative that Utah voters approved in 2018.
New Mexico's highest court holds that Republican claims can proceed under legal standard proposed by U.S. Supreme Court's liberal justices
Where are redistricting reforms occurring, and what concerns are prompting these changes? Watch the webinar to learn more.
This op-ed originally ran on The Fulcrum. This has been a summer of gut punches to the body politic. A Supreme Court bloc cobbled together by minority-backed presidents and a norm-abusing Senate has trampled precedent and lurched to extremes on the most divisive issues of our time. A presidential election that should have been laid...
Extreme partisan gerrymandering is now freely permitted in North Carolina. It may soon be in other states to come, and it has been for federal courts since the 2019 Rucho v Common Cause decision, which reached similar conclusions for similarly flawed reasons. Congress needs to act.
Description: March 23, 2020: ERN’s inaugural webinar, States at Play in the Fight Against Gerrymandering, features expert panelists Cathy Duvall (of Democracy Ascent Advisors) and Clean Missouri’s Sean Soendker Nicholson, who discuss the outcome of the SCOTUS decision on gerrymandering – and where it leaves room for state action.
Perhaps it is not surprising that Friday’s vote on HR1, the omnibus election reform bill, broke strictly along partisan lines… And yet, just last year, many of the reforms featured in HR1 won backing from Republican majorities in several states. Reforms like independent redistricting, automatic voter registration, campaign…
We Americans find our ourselves today in a crisis of democracy. Our institutions don’t seem to work. They produce polarizing results. Gridlock and political stasis are prevalent. Visions of the future are bleak, featuring continued and increased stressing of our democratic institutions and traditions until they risk reaching the breaking point….
GUARDING THE HENHOUSE: WHO SHOULD DRAW CREDIBLE ELECTION BOUNDARIES? Edward R. McMahon, Ed.D Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vermont Vice Chair, Election Reformers Network A hot item on the current political reform agenda in this country concerns the redrawing of the boundaries that define congressional districts. This constitutionally-mandated process typically occurs every…
This op-ed by ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson and The People's Katie Fahey originally appeared in Bridge Michigan. In 2018, Michiganders of all sides won one of the greatest battles for basic fairness in the states history. Michigan slayed the dragon of partisan gerrymandering, taking election district drawing out of the self-dealing hands of legislators...
This report compares constitutional amendment legislation in five states aimed at blocking partisan gerrymandering and changing how redistricting is done. The states include Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Utah.
