The redistricting wars have fallen out of the headlines over the last few weeks, but that doesn’t mean they’re over.
Republicans in Missouri passed a new map to eliminate a Democratic seat in Kansas City, while courts in Utah have ruled against the state’s Republican-drawn map, which could ultimately yield newly competitive or even Democratic-leaning seats.
And recently we’ve received a lot of questions about gerrymandering and redistricting. In particular, we’ve gotten questions asking, in different ways: “What if?”
So let’s go to the mailbag, and take on a few reader questions.
Maximum gerrymandering
Here’s an intriguing question, albeit one that’s not straightforward to answer: What would happen if both parties gerrymandered U.S. House districts as much as possible in every state they could?
If every “blue” state trifecta maximally gerrymandered, and every “red” state trifecta did the same, what would the result of that likely be? — Zac Townsend
One reason it’s hard to answer this question: the law. Gaming out a maximum gerrymander could require as much consultation with lawyers as political analysts. State constitutions and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 limit what states can do even with single-party control in a state (known as a trifecta), and it’s not always obvious what can be accomplished beyond what is already done.
If the law weren’t an issue, almost every safely “blue” or “red” state with a trifecta could draw maps where the majority party was a clear favorite to win every congressional district. In a state like Texas, where Republicans hold 25 of 38 House seats, it would technically be possible to make every district one that would have voted for President Trump by around 14 points last year — if it weren’t for the Voting Rights Act, which has been interpreted to require states to draw majority-minority districts under certain circumstances.
In states where that law is the only relevant consideration, a red-state maximum gerrymander entails eliminating every Democratic district that isn’t protected by the Voting Rights Act. In the blue states, it means drawing the maximum number of Democratic districts without diluting the districts protected by the Voting Rights Act.
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The post Readers Have Their Own Suggestions on Redistricting appeared first on New York Times.
