Gerrymandering: The Deformed Offspring of Democracy

A solution for a problem that shouldn’t exist

Photo by Patti Black on Unsplash

Is American democracy past its expiration date? If it were an item in the refrigerator, is it something that should be tossed out? That seems like a fair question to ask these days when I look at how democracy has decayed over the years.

Understanding how it happened is simply a matter of connecting the historical dots. The history of American democracy is one where the leaders have consistently tried to keep the vote away from anyone whose vote might endanger their power. How do we keep democracy away from the people while maintaining the facade that the United States is a democracy? Easy. Just keep telling them over and over again how the United States is a democracy and that it is the best country on Earth.

Some people will believe anything.

In the very beginning of this country, the vote was reserved for rich white males only. Slowly, and I mean slowly, the vote was gradually given to all white men, Black men, women, and eventually those between the ages of 18 and 21. It was a long, slow, arduous process, like forcing open the jaws of a crocodile, but eventually the right to vote was given to all U.S. citizens over the age of 18, with the exception of felons whose civil rights have not been restored.

The renewed interest in an old form of vote manipulation

If you follow politics at all, you are probably aware that a number of states have redrawn their Congressional districts to favor the party that is in control of that particular state. These states include California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Other states, such as Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Virginia, are in the process of doing so. The goal is to increase the number of seats in the House of Representatives for the party that controls the state.

The term used for redrawing Congressional districts for the express purpose of favoring one party is called “gerrymandering.”

As you probably learned in your high school history class, assuming you weren’t skipping out that day, the idea of redrawing district lines to favor one party was first put forth in 1812 by a man named Elbridge Gerry, who was the governor of Massachusetts. One of the districts somewhat resembled a salamander. Gerry’s opponents spliced together his last name with the shape of one of his districts and coined the term “gerrymandering.”

By breaking up certain blocks of voters and diluting their voting power by mixing them with a majority from the other party, they are rendered impotent as a voting block. For instance, if a part of a city is heavily Black, running one or more district lines through that area could fragment the Black vote and mix each section with a majority white vote. Doing this would ensure that no Black representative was elected.

In this election cycle, each party is attempting to redraw its Congressional districts for its own benefit. The Democrats want to emerge from the 2026 midterm elections with a majority in the House of Representatives. The Republicans, fearful that the failing Trump presidency is putting their slim majority in jeopardy, want to draw district lines that will keep them in the majority.

In the days of Elbridge Gerry, redrawing Congressional districts was a laborious task, and there was no guarantee that the new district would render the desired results. Today, with computer technology doing the heavy lifting, Congressional districts can be redrawn with impeccable accuracy, so the desired outcome is all but guaranteed. If these schemes are allowed to continue, gerrymandering will be a part of every election in the years to come.

Democracy is not supposed to work like that.

A simple fix to a problem that shouldn’t exist

The simplest fix to this ridiculous problem is to do away with Congressional districts altogether. What many people are unaware of is this: nowhere in the Constitution is it required that a state be divided into Congressional districts.

Congressional districts are the product of the Apportionment Act of 1842. Since it is a law and not a part of the Constitution, it could easily be done away with if the desire was there. The problem, of course, is that the party in power likes to keep things the way they are for fear of losing.

Instead of having one representative from each district in the state, there would simply be the same number of representatives at-large. There would be no way to manipulate the lines of the Congressional districts because there would be no Congressional districts!

How would this work? Let’s say that a particular state is allotted eight representatives in the House. On Election Day, each voter would vote for eight representatives in ranked order. When the votes are tallied, the eight candidates with the most votes will be that state’s representatives.

The problem with this solution, however, is that it is a little too easy and a little too democratic. In the meantime, sit back and watch the show. It’s going to be an interesting election.

John Egelkrout is a sanity-curious former teacher who writes about social issues, memoirs, and other topics. Follow him on Substack at johnegelkrout.substack.com/subscribe