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The next big voting rights case the Supreme Court of the United States could consider wasn’t filed by the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, or another household name when it comes to voter rights. 

Rank MI Vote is gathering petition signatures for an amendment to the Michigan constitution that – if approved by voters – will allow voters who cast a ballot for president, Congress, governor, and more to use ranked choice voting instead of marking just a single candidate.

The political rivalry between President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom has dominated headlines this year, most recently over the issue of congressional redistricting, also known as gerrymandering.

On a hot August morning, state and local leaders gathered in Fresno to cut the ribbon on California’s newest community reentry facility. The site, run in partnership with TURN Behavioral Health Services, is designed to help people finishing prison sentences adjust to life on the outside. For Jorge Moreno of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), it’s about giving people a chance to breathe. “(It’s) like a phase down from the institutions,” he said. “(They) can decompress from the pressures and politics of prison and start acclimating back into the community.”

California U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R) says the current redistricting war that threatens to escalate after Texas and California approved mid-decade gerrymanders is “bad for the country, bad for representation, and bad for democracy.”

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, claiming he was going to “lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots,” adding that he would sign an executive order ahead of the 2026 midterms. However, Trump has yet to sign such an order.

Republicans currently hold a narrow 219 to 212 edge over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with four vacancies: three from Democratic members who have died and one from a Republican who has resigned. This is the smallest House majority held by either party in nearly a century. The razor-thin margin means the stakes in the 2026 midterms could not be higher. With so few competitive seats left nationwide, both parties are turning to mid-decade redistricting as a way to secure advantages.

Utah may be added to the list of states that will redraw their congressional maps in 2025. But unlike Texas and California, it is to correct a gerrymander by the Republican-controlled legislature, which has tried to sidestep the state’s independent redistricting commission.

California voters are lucky. In 2026, when they choose their next governor, they will do so under a system that ensures no spoilers, no wasted votes, and a guaranteed majority winner. Thanks to the state’s nonpartisan top two primary, every candidate appears on the same ballot, and the top two finishers advance to November. No matter how crowded the field, Californians always end up with a winner who has earned a majority of the votes.

The United States has passed the point of no return in the unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting fight between Texas and California, which threatens to expand to other states like Republican-controlled Florida and Democratic-controlled New York.