In a democracy or a republic the power of the government is derived from the people. The people show what they want by voting for a representative or on a direct basis. The United States is a republic where the people vote to have someone represent them in their beliefs, ideals, and how to move their community and the country forward in a positive direction. One of the most important ways of a republic to work is that whomever the people elected to represent them follows through with the promises that were made by the politician as they were trying to persuade people to vote for them. However, what happens when the politician no longer needs to worry about their voters due to knowing they will be elected purely based on what political party they have in front of their name? This is occurring more and more through a process of gerrymandering. The process of gerrymandering is where one political party draws the lines of their districts to give them favored terms of the election based on partisanship of the area. This allows the politician to pick their voters instead of the voters picking their politician.

This process of picking one’s voters erodes and corrupts a democracy because the winner of the race is chosen before the election actually happens. This makes people less engaged and have less of a want to participate in the voting and electoral process. In a democracy it is essential to have the most amount of people engaged and aware of what the issues are and to vote. If people think their vote is meaningless, why would someone take time from their busy lives making ends meet to participate in the political process? Too many voters have their representation given to them by the primary system which is an intra-party election. This type of process can be closed, meaning only people in the party can vote. Even in an open primary it is politicians from the same side trying to see how they win over more of their partisan voters. Winning the primary election in a gerrymandered district means the politician will win the general election and be the representative for that area. Why should an intra-party fight make the determination for the victor instead of letting the whole population vote?

In practice this looks like what the state of Wisconsin used to be. Most state wide races come down to a couple of percentage points for the victor in either direction. Sometimes the Republican might win or the Democrat might win. However, until 2024 The Wisconsin legislature was almost a super majority or was a super majority for the republicans in the state. This meant that no matter what the Governor in the state wanted the legislature could override and veto what was put forth. This strictly happened due to gerrymandering after the 2010 elections in the state. It pushed a 50/50 state very rightward with absolutely no recourse for the policy being implemented by the voters. This is the power of gerrymandering and it takes away the peoples’ right in the state to actually have a say. In 2024 the gerrymander for the Wisconsin state government was finally broken by the State Supreme court. Until the gerrymander was broken, how many votes cast by the people of the state of Wisconsin did they actual feel mattered due to the way the districts were drawn? This shows that these elections in the state of Wisconsin were free but not fair, which is one of the pillars of democracy.

Gerrymandering is not just on the state level as seen in Wisconsin but also on the federal level in North Carolina. Here, it is now a similar scenario to the mid 2010’s Wisconsin where it is a 50/50 state but the Republican Party is one seat shy of the super majority to block the will of the people in who they elected for governor to do their job and force whatever policy they want on to the state. This just isn’t a state level problem it also matters on the national level as well. It can be argued that without the new North Carolina gerrymander in 2024 the Republicans might not have the house majority and would have been unable to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill act. Also in 2024 New York decided not to gerrymander their state which could have also lead to a different house majority after the 2024 election. Now Republicans see a chance that their slim house majority might disappear, therefore Texas which is run by republicans, is going to do a special session to see if they can sure up the house in 2026 instead of trying to convince their policies will help the American people.

I would like to have all races with fair districts where politicians have to work and persuade voters to vote for them instead in this highly polarized era to just pick their own voters. No politician should draw any maps and should not be able to pick their voters. Gerrymandering is a democracy killer because laws are made with no way for the voters to hold their representatives accountable. The practice should be banned on all levels of government.