To the editor: Voter registration records have consistently shown in recent years that the group of Americans falling into the independent or decline-to-state-party categories continues to grow. According to a recent Gallup poll, neither of our two “major” political parties represent even a third of voters. Notwithstanding this stark fact, the Republicans and Democrats have maintained their vice-like grips on our nation’s politics due to a number of financial and other factors, not least of which is the ability to maintain “safe” voting districts that ensure that one of these two parties will consistently prevail in a particular district (“South Carolina joins Southern redistricting push after U.S. Supreme Court ruling on minority districts,” May 6).
It is thus not surprising that some level of voter district gerrymandering has been a consistent feature of American politics. But we’ve seen an enhanced level of deliberate “redistricting” for political advantage this past year, starting with President Trump’s direction to Texas Republicans, leading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 retort and now the even more over-the-top efforts in Virginia and other states. It must be seen for what it is: a direct affront to our democracy aimed at silencing the voices of numerous voters. Enough is enough, and it’s time that a few, true leaders on both sides of the political divide emerge to say so.
Russ Swartz, Granada Hills
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To the editor: So let me get this straight. The Supreme Court ruled that race cannot be used to redistrict a state’s electoral map. However, race can be used to remove or split up districts.
Race is clearly being used as criteria to create states with fewer or no majority-Black districts — Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina and Texas, to name a few. Do we see a pattern here?
Dianne Gorsey, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: Goodbye, racial gerrymandering. Hello unrestricted Democratic and Republican Party gerrymandering (“California under pressure — again — as partisan redistricting wars escalate,” May 7). Gerrymandering of either variety is a failure of democracy. America should be ashamed of itself.
Incumbency already has more power than it deserves to virtually guarantee reelection. Partisan gerrymandering is incumbency set in stone, and it disenfranchises independent voters.
California’s gerrymandering is already so heavily skewed toward the Democratic Party. Nearly a quarter of California’s voters who do not affiliate with either major party are unlikely to ever be able to vote for their first choice of a candidate.
Janet Weaver, Huntington Beach
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To the editor: Tennessee has drawn new district maps to take away its one Democratic and Black-dominated district (“Tennessee lawmakers pass U.S. House map carving up majority-Black district in Memphis,” May 7). This splits Memphis, a majority-Black city, into three districts. One encompasses a swath of geography that extends halfway across the state. The lone Black legislator in the state will be gerrymandered out of office.
This shows how flawed the Supreme Court decision to desecrate the Voting Rights Act was. It is time to reform the un-Supreme Court, or junk it.
Thomas Oatway, Valencia
