Top US court to hear gerrymandering cases

WASHINGTON, Jan 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United States Supreme Court
decided on Friday to hear two cases of partisan gerrymandering after putting off chances last year to address the controversial issue.

Justices of the country’s highest court in March will examine rulings by
two District Courts which invalidated electoral maps in North Carolina and
Maryland.

In the first case, the lower court ruled that the map favored Republicans,
while in Maryland it benefited Democrats.

Gerrymandering occurs frequently in the United States to favor one party by grouping voters leaning towards the opposing party into certain districts to reduce their influence in the country’s first-past-the-post voting system.

This is done in two ways, known as “packing” and “cracking.” Packing
involves heavily concentrating an opponents’ likely voters into districts
that allow them to win those areas by heavy margins — thereby wasting every vote above the 50 percent mark.

Cracking on the other hand involves spreading opponent voters across
districts where the favored party maintains a slim majority, thereby ensuring the losers’ votes are wasted.

The portmanteau was coined after Elbridge Gerry, the governor of
Massachusetts, signed a law in 1812 that created a voting district in Boston
that resembled a salamander.

Even if gerrymandering is heavily criticized, the Supreme Court has not
found that the practice violates the constitution.

In June, it declined for procedural reasons to decide the complaints
against redistricting plans in Wisconsin and Maryland.

Since then, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who seemed more disposed to act on
gerrymandering, has retired and been replaced by President Donald Trump’s conservative pick, Justice Brett Kavanaugh.