Community-Driven Redistricting Updates from CLC
View this email in your browser ([link removed]) | Forward to a friend ([link removed]) | DONATE ([link removed])
This is the very first issue of "The Redistricting Cycle," CLC's new monthly update about fair maps, partisan gerrymandering and all things related to community-driven redistricting. If you like what you're reading and want to receive it each month, click the button below.
I want to receive this update! ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]
** What Is Gerrymandering? ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
In several states, the politicians who are responsible for drawing maps often create new districts that would enable themselves and members of their own political party to win elections more easily. The manipulation of the mapmaking process for personal gain is called gerrymandering, and it hurts voters by making it harder for them to elect their preferred candidates.
Read more. ([link removed])
What The Freedom To Vote Act Means for Partisan Gerrymandering ([link removed])
The law would prohibit states from implementing a redistricting plan that intentionally or effectively favors or disfavors one political party. As the 2022 midterm elections approach, it is imperative that Congress pass this important legislation.
Read more. ([link removed])
PlanScore.org’s Online Library Puts the Tools To Identify Gerrymandering in Users’ Hands ([link removed])
CLC's PlanScore is a free web tool for measuring district maps for partisan bias, helping users score past, current and proposed maps. The recently-unveiled library feature makes it easy to compare maps as they are proposed and adopted in states across the country and assess whether they’re fair or gerrymandered.
Read more. ([link removed])
[link removed]
Three Questions with...Annabelle Harless
Annabelle Harless is CLC's Senior Legal Counsel based in the Windy City. She litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases in state and federal courts across the country.
For folks who are new to the process of community-driven redistricting, how would you describe the work you do at CLC?
The work I do at CLC focuses on litigation, which means I help communities and voters whose voting power has been weakened, and challenge unfair election systems and maps in court. The cases that we bring are usually on behalf of voters of color or voters who are discriminated against based on partisanship. The best part of my job is getting to work with our wonderful clients, who are individuals and groups dedicated to fighting for their right to participate in the electoral process and who care deeply about the right to vote.
How do Independent Redistricting Commissions (IRCs) help create fair maps?
Generally, IRCs help create fair maps in several ways. They take the power of drawing district lines away from self-interested politicians. They also provide a procedure for assessing maps that allows for meaningful community input and more transparency than legislative-drawn maps. These reforms to the redistricting process often lead to maps that are fairer in terms of representation of communities of color and partisanship.
What does your work look like after the current redistricting cycle is over and the maps that will shape American voters' lives for the next 10 years are in place?
The drafting and passage of maps is just the beginning of the redistricting cycle. After maps from this cycle are put in place, they will continue to impact the lives of individuals for at least the next decade. Legal challenges will be brought against unfair maps at all levels across the country, including school boards, city councils, county boards, state legislative and congressional. CLC will be involved in challenging unfair maps, whether for minority vote dilution, racial or partisan gerrymandering or other grounds. Voters in various states may also be interested in implementing IRCs and other policy reforms, and CLC is often involved with those efforts.
Follow Annabelle on Twitter. ([link removed])
From The Archives: The Fight for Fair Maps Continues Two Years After Rucho v. Common Cause ([link removed])
Two and a half years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court declared it was unable and unwilling to use its powers to stop partisan gerrymandering in the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts in the case Rucho v. Common Cause. In the time since the Rucho decision, there have been victories for fair maps in states like Michigan and Virginia.
Read our update. ([link removed])
Explore All Redistricting Plans by State ([link removed])
[link removed]
Is your state's map fair or gerrymandered? Explore the library of proposed and adopted maps on CLC's PlanScore website to find out. ([link removed])
A CLC-branded divider design.
Like what you've read? Subscribe now to receive upcoming issues of The Redistricting Cycle!
Subscribe ([link removed])
A CLC-branded divider design.
============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center is dedicated to advancing democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process.
Copyright © 2021 Campaign Legal Center, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Campaign Legal Center
1101 14th St NW, Ste 400
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
