After President Trump sparked congressional redistricting fights in Texas, California and Missouri, some advocacy teams are pivoting their methods in opposition to partisan gerrymandering.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Trump has sparked redistricting fights in Texas, California and different states which may reshape the congressional election map. That has result in some longtime opponents of gerrymandering reconsidering their methods in opposition to the redrawing of voting districts to assist a selected political celebration win. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang studies.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: Prepared for some extra chants?
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: Right here we go.
HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: In 2019, Frequent Trigger took their marketing campaign in opposition to partisan gerrymandering all the way in which to the Supreme Court docket.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Gerrymandering’s obtained to go. Hey, hey…
WANG: However the advocacy group has softened its stance in current weeks…
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OMAR NOURELDIN: Thanks, everybody. Thanks for becoming a member of us immediately. So I am right here to explain our six equity standards.
WANG: …When its senior vice chairman of coverage, Omar Noureldin, helped announce that Frequent Trigger won’t condemn sure gerrymandered maps of voting districts that they see as proportional to the menace posed by gerrymanders in different states.
NOURELDIN: We needed to pivot our place to fulfill this present second as a result of we’re not in regular instances.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have now a possibility in Texas to choose up 5 seats.
WANG: President Trump has been making a vocal push on CNBC and different platforms for brand spanking new congressional maps that would assist protect Republican management of the U.S. Home of Representatives after subsequent yr’s midterm election.
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TRUMP: And we’re entitled to 5 extra seats.
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GAVIN NEWSOM: They fired the primary shot – Texas.
WANG: And in response, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, led a counterpush for a poll measure in November. It is set to ask the state’s voters to permit a brand new gerrymandered map that would assist Democrats choose up 5 Home seats.
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NEWSOM: We would not be right here had Texas not achieved what they simply did, Donald Trump did not do what he simply did.
NOURELDIN: On the identical time, we noticed the president deploy the Nationwide Guard in D.C.
WANG: Noureldin says Frequent Trigger has modified its place on gerrymandering as a result of it fears Trump’s strikes may finally make him and Congress unaccountable to voters and take away any future probability to make this nation’s consultant democracy fairer.
NOURELDIN: Proposing an finish to birthright citizenship, undermining the independence of the courts, utilizing disinformation to weaken belief in our elections, and this redistricting struggle suits proper in. It is about locking accountable for authorities, it doesn’t matter what voters need.
CELINA STEWART: Had this been dealt with years in the past (laughter), we would not have been fairly on this place.
WANG: Celina Stewart is the CEO of the League of Girls Voters. The advocacy group, like Frequent Trigger, has pivoted its place in opposition to gerrymandering. It is now urging states to not hurt racial and ethnic minorities, youthful voters and agricultural communities. Stewart says these ongoing redistricting fights are the results of the Supreme Court docket ruling in 2019 and that partisan gerrymandering just isn’t reviewable by federal courts.
STEWART: That’s a part of how now we have gotten right here now due to the unwillingness of the Supreme Court docket to place this in test. Along with that, Congress has didn’t act and go laws that may additionally standardize issues.
WANG: Throughout the Biden administration, Republicans blocked the Democratic push to go a nationwide ban on partisan gerrymandering. David Daley of FairVote, which helps nonpartisan redistricting, says that form of ban would assist, however the nation additionally wants a unique method of electing members of Congress.
DAVID DALEY: I feel we must be trying in the direction of a Home that’s far more proportional.
WANG: Daley says the Home may have a number of members representing every district. Advocates say proportional illustration may assist mood gerrymandering and political extremism.
DALEY: Till we glance actually severely at these issues and attempt to think about the large structural fixes that may get us again heading in the right direction, we’re going to spiral in the direction of the underside and keep there.
WANG: However for now, Daley says he is watching for brand spanking new gerrymandered maps that could be handed quickly in states like Missouri, Ohio and Indiana.
Hansi Lo Wang, NPR Information.
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