Thereβs something about redistricting that brings out the most cynical side of politics. Questions that should be high-minded, such as what is the nature of representation in a democracy, are overtaken by naked political advantage.
That was unfortunately true during this yearβs legislative session in response to the U.S. Supreme Courtβs ruling in , in which the court declared the 6th Congressional District an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The high court waived its customary waiting period and expedited its final, formal judgment. That allowed Gov. Jeff Landry to cancel elections for U.S. House in which thousands of Louisiana voters had already mailed in ballots. The Legislature quickly redrew congressional maps for this yearβs election β violating at least the spirit of a doctrine that says rules shouldnβt be changed close to an election.
Disturbingly, voters who showed up to the state Capitol in force to remind lawmakers of the Voting Rights Actβs history and of the ongoing importance of having the opportunity to elect representatives who share their concerns about protecting civil rights were too often .
Yes, Landry and the Legislature acted within the rules presented to them, but itβs also true they pushed them to the limit.
Callais was a Louisiana case, but its effects were felt across the South, where other Republican-majority legislatures pounced on judicial permission to try to increase their numbers ahead of the fall midterm congressional elections, when control of the U.S. House will be at stake. Democrats in other parts of the country have also sought ways to gain advantage, so the end result likely will be a Congress with even fewer members who feel they need to answer to all the voters in their district.
Louisiana wound up with five majority White, largely Republican districts, and Black voters in the Baton Rouge were packed into a heavily Black and Democratic district centered around New Orleans. Lost is the current second majority Black seat that stretched from Baton Rouge to points north and west, which gave the state a balance of power much more closely aligned with its population. But because the court deems partisan gerrymanders acceptable, many voters are still lopped into that break up communities.
At some point, both in Baton Rouge and in Washington, a truce is needed. Myriad potential reforms, such as neutral redistricting commissions (as in Iowa) or bans on mid-decade redistricting, should at least be considered.
The focus in Baton Rouge this session was on politics, but the impact of the new map on whose voices are represented will touch every aspect of American life where Congress acts.
We hope the politicians who will be eventually emerge from this discouraging process in the rescheduled fall elections keep that in mind β and remember that once the gamesmanship ends, their duty remains a sacred one: to serve the voters in their districts. All of them.