This article by Peter Miller and Anna Harris is published by The Washington Post. Here is an excerpt:
This past year, Americans have been paying an unusual amount of attention to redistricting, as states adjust congressional district boundaries to accord with the 2020 Census. The political stakes are high, given a host of factors: a narrow Democratic majority in both houses of Congress; state legislatures that are overwhelmingly controlled by one party; an increased minority population; and federal courts that have declined to limit partisan districting. As a result, many state legislatures are drawing districts that would make it easier for the dominant party to win seats. With fewer competitive districts, incumbents worry more about losing primaries than general elections.
To combat rampant gerrymandering, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and others have introduced the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA). If passed, this bill would block the most extreme gerrymanders until courts complete a full review. If it were in place now, it would significantly change redistricting for the 2022 elections, our research finds.
Under the FTVA, a congressional redistricting plan is presumed biased if it gives one party an advantage of more than 7 percent of a state’s House seats or in one congressional district, whichever is greater, using partisan fairness metrics. In practice, this means a map is considered biased if a party would be likely to win more seats than you would expect from its share of the state’s votes.
Read the full article here.
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