Dear John,

When the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, it opened the door to expanded voter suppression nationwide.

The result has been that once again politicians are selecting their voters, not the other way around. The problem is bipartisan, but let's be clear here: Republicans have mastered it as another way to hold onto power.

As many as a dozen or more states could undergo redistricting again before the 2024 election -- giving Republicans in state legislatures another chance to advantage themselves as well as gerrymander a stronger majority in the House of Representatives.

Take Wisconsin for example. When Wisconsin Republicans drew district lines in 2021, they boosted their advantage in the State Assembly even more. In an election where the Democratic governor received 51% of the vote, the Republican gerrymandered state still delivered 61 of 99 seats (or 62%) to Republicans.  

And in Texas, even though 40% of voters are white and 39% Hispanic, 61% of the congressional districts are majority white, while only 18% are majority Hispanic. Not only does this dramatically favor Republicans, but also partisan redistricting has the demonstrable effect of exacerbating racial inequities.

This disproportional representation puts our entire democracy at risk. Tell Congress to act and prohibit partisan gerrymandering in all fifty states now.

Thank you for taking this action to protect Americans’ rights to fair and proportional representation nationwide.

Our democracy depends on it.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action