Voting Rights At Stake in Partisan Gerrymandering Case

image
Created: 03 Oct, 2017
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read

Update October 3, 2017: The full transcript has been released for the oral argument in Gill v. Whitford. Check out the transcript below.

 

The Supreme Court heard oral argument Tuesday in Gill v. Whitford, a case out of Wisconsin that challenges the state's gerrymandered legislative districts.

Gill v. Whitford is significant because it is the first case that a federal court ruled electoral maps unconstitutional not on the basis of race or class discrimination, but political discrimination. The district court ruled 2-1 that the mapmaking was so partisan that it violated the rights of voters outside the Republican Party, which controls the Wisconsin legislature.

The case is now before the Supreme Court, and it is reported that the justices appear divided on the issue. Reuters reports that the conservative justices questioned whether or not appellants -- consisting of Democratic voters -- actually had standing.

Chief Justice John Roberts also questioned the role the court should play in ruling on these maps.

“We will have to decide in every case whether the Democrats or the Republicans win. The intelligent man on the street is going to say, ‘That’s a bunch of baloney,'” Roberts said.

The Supreme Court has historically been reluctant to rule that an electoral map violated the constitution based on political factors outside race or class discrimination. In Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004), the high court ruled that there was no measurable or judicial standard to determine what constitutes “too partisan.”

IVP Donate

However, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg raised the issue of voting rights, and the impact extreme partisan gerrymandering could continue to have on the electoral process and voters' desire to participate in a process they think is rigged from the start.

"What incentive is there for a voter to exercise his vote? What becomes of the precious right to vote?" Ginsburg asked.

Read a full analysis of the SCOTUS hearing here.

It is important to note that partisan gerrymandering is not solely a Republican issue. While it is often portrayed as a scheme by the GOP, Democrats are just as guilty. Congressional maps in Maryland or Illinois, for instance, are just as partisan as the legislative maps in Wisconsin.

It is a two-party scheme to maintain power and protect incumbents.

In this case, it is not just Democratic voters that are affected. It is every voter outside the party in control of the legislature, in an effort by lawmakers to pick their voters instead of the other way around.

However, using newer measurable standards, Gill v. Whitford could begin to change all of that, and change Supreme Court precedent forever. Stay tuned for additional coverage of this case on IVN.

Read the full transcript:

OLAS Media

Latest articles

Rand Paul
Why Rand Paul Calls Trump's Tariffs a Harmful Tax on Americans
Republican Senator Rand Paul has once again voiced his strong opposition to tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump and has joined a handful of Republicans willing to vote against them in the Senate....
03 Apr, 2025
-
2 min read
Hand sticking ballot in ballot box.
Same Election: Voter ID Wins Big; GOP Loses Big
Many have seen the story out of Wisconsin: Susan Crawford defied record-breaking spending by Super PACs to win the April 1 state Supreme Court election. “Crawford beat Musk,” is the headline after the world’s richest man poured millions into the race to defeat her, while liberal billionaires also opened up their own pocketbooks for Crawford....
03 Apr, 2025
-
3 min read
Image of a gavel and legal professionals at a desk.
A Recent Court Decision Could Reshape the Legal Battle over Closed Primaries
Litigation is often seen as a zero-sum game of wins and losses. In that lens, a recent 11th Circuit decision that upholds Florida’s closed primary system has been declared another win for political parties and closed primaries. But it’s the wrong framing....
03 Apr, 2025
-
4 min read