In case you haven’t been paying attention in social studies, gerrymandering is “a district or pattern of districts varying greatly in size or population as a result of gerrymandering.” This is an old tradition in many states in the US; one party redraws district lines to create a partisan advantage in different government elections.
On February 19th, the supreme court ruled the Pennsylvanian district map was unfit for voters and heavily favored the Republican Party during elections. A new map was drawn, and, according to Mary Maddox of the Salon news site, “the new maps create something between three and five newly competitive districts,” up for grabs by democrats.
With the 2018 midterm elections coming up, this map gives the Democrats a brand new opportunity for control of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives. This redrawing has received a lot of pushback from the GOP and President Donald Trump.
On February 20th, Trump tweeted “Hope Republicans in the Great State of Pennsylvania challenge the new “pushed” Congressional Map, all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Your Original was correct! Don’t let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!”
Many republicans are taking Trump’s advice, and it seems they are not the only ones who believe the redrawing of the maps was giving Democrats an advantage, not just evening things out.
Christopher Ellis, an associate professor of political science at Bucknell University, told the Bucknellian the following: “[the] new maps are far more favorable to Democrats… and it appears the court went out of its way to make them that way.”
Whether gerrymandering occurs in favor the Republican or Democratic party, it strips away the power of the vote. In the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, it is important to be an informed voter and to make sure that every vote from every individual counts. The parties that Americans trust to make decisions for the country should earn the vote fairly- not through strategic yet unethical ways of redistricting.