Supreme Court to decide whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether gerrymandering intended to give an advantage to a political party is unconstitutional.
The case is Gill v. Whitford, SCOTUSblog reports.
The Supreme Court has increasingly overturned redrawn electoral maps because they were designed to reduce the influence of racial minorities, according to the Washington Post. But the court has never struck down a map because of partisan gerrymandering.
“If it does,” the Washington Post reports, “it would have a revolutionary impact on the reapportionment that comes after the 2020 election, and could come at the expense of Republicans, who control the process in the majority of states.”
A special panel of three judges in Wisconsin had ruled last year that a partisan map in that state violated the First Amendment and equal rights protections.
After adoption of the map, Republicans secured a 60-39 seat advantage in the Wisconsin State Assembly, while getting just 48.6 percent of the statewide vote.
