Hey John, 

I’m GP’s Fall intern, Maddie. You’re hearing from me instead of another GP team member today, because I’m from Texas⁠—and right now my state is a prime example of what NOT to do to have free and fair elections, without racist gerrymandering, in which all voices are heard equally. Let me kick this off by explaining why we’re talking about this now.

In the aftermath of the 2020 Census, all 50 state legislatures are busy redrawing their political districts, including Texas. Unfortunately, this process is vulnerable to gerrymandering as lawmakers manipulate district boundaries to gain an unfair electoral advantage. Young people, like me, have a lot on the line! These new maps will define our elections for the next 10 years, meaning they will have a significant impact on every issue facing our generation, including student debt, abortion access, and gun violence.

I wrote about how gerrymandering harms our democracy by diminishing the power of communities of color, targeting college campuses to make those votes count less, and using prison population to decide district populations.

Fair elections are impossible without fair redistricting. But in 2021, my home state is a particularly egregious example of redistricting gone wrong. Since 2010, 95% of new residents are people of color. Despite this, Texas lawmakers drew a congressional map that adds a majority-white district, cuts a majority-Hispanic district, and eliminates the state’s only majority-Black district (2).  

Texas isn’t alone, either—Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio’s maps are also being taken to court (3). We can fix these maps by passing the Freedom To Vote Act, which would prevent racial and partisan gerrymandering. Take action now to tell your representatives to protect our democracy.

Best, 

Maddie Aguilar
Fall 2021 Intern
Generation Progress

Citations:

(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/us/politics/republicans-2022-redistricting-maps.html

(2) https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2021/texas-redistricting-map/

(3) https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_lawsuits_in_the_2020_redistricting_cycle