Gerrymandering Across the US

Gerrymandering is not a new issue. As long as the party in power has the ability to establish voting districts there will always be a tendency to draw borders which are favorable to their party. 

What is new is the growing trend for minority parties and concerned citizens to push back against extreme gerrymandering.  Locations such as North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are challenging their district lines. 

In May, the US Supreme Court ruled against 2 congressional districts in North Carolina. The courts ruled that the state relied too much on race when drawing district lines. Republicans won 10 of the 13 seats in North Carolina, which sparked this controversy. 

Supreme Court Rejects 2 Congressional Districts In North Carolina

The Supreme Court will hear a case from Wisconsin regarding gerrymandering in their state.  This will be the first time in nearly a decade that the US Supreme Court will be taking one of these cases. This will also allow the courts to rule what counts as unconstitutional when it comes to drawing district lines.  

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Wisconsin Gerrymandering Case

In Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's district lines. This was sparked by voting outcomes in 2012 of republicans winning 13 out of the 18 congressional seats, but only 49 percent of the congressional vote.  Again in 2014 and 2016, republicans won the same amount of seats but only 55 and 54 percent of the votes. This lawsuit will be 

Pennsylvania gerrymandering lawsuit cites maps, statistics

Mickey Maurer and the Hoosier people are calling for redistricting reform in Indiana. Gerrymandering in Indiana leads to bad legislation being passed because of a sense of stability that some legislators have.  This is one of the stems of the issues of legislation in this state. Redistricting reform will be surfaced again in the 2018 General Assembly.

MAURER: Gerrymandering leads to bad bills

To get involved in the conversation here in Indiana, click here

The Facebook Discussion Page

A STATEMENT FROM WOMEN4CHANGE INDIANA

In an effort to dispel major misunderstandings that have occurred on the Facebook Discussion page over the last few days, please allow us to clarify important facts.

The deletion of comments in recent Facebook conversations reflected our commitment to our Civility Pledge, which is a core value of our organization. Comments were deleted strictly due to their content – personal attacks, unfounded (and even libelous) accusations and name-calling. However, some comments were inadvertently deleted as part of a comment chain. For this, we do apologize.

Women4Change Indiana was founded by a group of diverse individuals – diverse in race, religion, sexual orientation and socio-economic status. Our leadership consists of African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian and Asian women of the Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Jewish faiths, as well as from the LGBTQ community. We are unified by a single goal: To positively and civilly affect change. Our focus is redistricting, empowering more women to run for office, modeling civil dialogue and providing women the tools to ensure their voices are heard.

Our commitment to free flow of information and ideas is as strong as our commitment to civility. We urge those participating in the discussion page to debate policies and issues and not disparage others. We invite groups and individuals to share their perspectives and respectful opinions with the 13,000-plus participants accumulated since November. That said, the closed discussion group, Women4Change, will no longer serve as our official page, but a page we are turning over to the community at-large to continue the discussion. Please join our email list to receive updates and information. Please “like” our Action Page to keep abreast of the evolution of this inclusive and grassroots organization through official communications.

We salute and honor each one of you, whether or not there is agreement. We are committed to having the complex and difficult conversations to figure out how we can talk to one another to build and to grow in our separate and common agendas. As a group, we remain committed to and continue to explore the complex and critical issues of inclusiveness and representation through programming, and by growing the composition of our leadership - even as we, as a group, begin a long-planned strategic planning process to refine our mission and direction. Please stay tuned for new developments.

We are a movement by, for and about Hoosier women - all Hoosier women. We acknowledge and honor - with respect and civility - painful, complex and unique histories. We are eager listeners and partners for those who are sincere in their desire and willingness to be active participants and who are committed to the work of transforming our current political rhetoric and culture with respect for the work and intentions of each other.  Together, we believe we can create positive change in our state and our nation. Together, we believe we can discover common ground and work for the common good.