Is SCOTUS About to Finally Give Voters a Win on Gerrymandering?

Author: FairVote
Published: 11 Jan, 2019
Updated: 18 Jun, 2025
2 min read

All rise. The fearsome gerrymander is back before the Supreme Court of the United States.

In the days since SCOTUS announced its decision to review partisan district-drawing cases in both Maryland and North Carolina, the already hot topic of gerrymandering grew even more fiery, with both sides anxious to see what the nation’s highest court does - or doesn’t do -  to intervene.

Last year, the court punted on a prior version of the same Maryland case it will revisit this term; it similarly declined to weigh on a separate partisan gerrymandering case in Wisconsin. With Justice Brett Kavanaugh now seated in place of former Justice Anthony Kennedy, a  swing vote in key decisions who indicated interest in reining in partisan gerrymanders, some legal experts are even more skeptical the court will act.

But the stakes are even higher now, as the post-2020 Census redistricting looms large on the horizon. As Paul Smith, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, said in a statement in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, “If the Supreme Court fails to set limits on this undemocratic practice, we will see a festival of copycat gerrymandering in 2020 the likes of which the country has never seen before.”

The prospect of more extreme gerrymandering than what happened in the post-2010 redistricting, which FairVote Senior Fellow Dave Daley dubbed “the most audacious political heist of modern times” in his 2016 book on the topic, presents an ominous future for voters and democracy.

We certainly stand behind those who have used the courts to fight for fair maps, and hope the Supremes will dub this important issue worthy of their judgement. That said, a SCOTUS ruling is not a panacea, but a part of what needs to be a larger discussion of how to use system reforms like ranked choice voting and multi-member districts to create a government which represents and empowers voters.

Photo Credit: This quick take originally published on FairVote's website and has been modified slightly for publication on IVN.

In this article

Related articles

Fence in front of Congress.
The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders of the 2020s
With two post-census election cycles in the books, congressional district maps are mostly set for the remainder of the decade – which means we will know the outcomes of the vast majority of House elections before voters even cast ballots in November 2026, 2028 and 2030....
13 Dec, 2024
-
9 min read
two parties
The Parties Strike Back: Deceptive Tactics Lead to Rough Night for More Choice Elections
Voters across the US had a chance to change the political landscape in the country forever. In 2024, however, the two major parties were mostly successful at stopping reform to the electoral status quo....
06 Nov, 2024
-
5 min read
two parties
Democrat-Led Lawsuit Kills Independent Redistricting Initiatives in Nevada
The Nevada Supreme Court on Friday upheld the ruling of a lower district court that two identical ballot questions that would create an independent redistricting commission were invalid because sponsors did not add a revenue source to either initiative....
11 May, 2024
-
2 min read

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read