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Redistricting
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Nevada redistricting effort gets more time, but not electronic signatures
Jun 01 2020
Redistricting reformers in Nevada have another shot at getting their initiative on the November ballot after a federal judge allowed for more time to collect signatures.
Judge Miranda Du of Reno has given Fair Maps Nevada six extra weeks to circulate petitions but turned down the group's request to be allowed to collect electronic signatures. Adhering to this month's deadline in light of the coronavirus pandemic would be unconstitutional, she wrote Friday, but relaxing the state's requirement for handwritten signatures could incubate fraud.
<p>Approval of the ballot measure would create a nonpartisan commission to replace the Legislature in drawing both the congressional and state legislative maps for the state, which is now the case in eight other states.</p>
<p>The November election is the last shot at redistricting reform for a decade, because new maps are drawn nationwide once the census provides detailed population counts.</p>
<p>Originally, Fair Maps Nevada had until June 24 to collect at least 98,000 signatures — and said it had gathered only 10,000 when Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak imposed a statewide stay-at-home order in April. He has since reopened most businesses but continues to encourage people to remain out of public places if possible.</p>
<p>Since the group could not collect signatures due to Covid-19, the judge wrote, "it is both unreasonable and unfair not to extend a statutory deadline for a corresponding period of time."</p>
<p>The new deadline is Aug. 5, or 90 days before Election Day. Du said the group and state officials could agree on a different date, but she recommended "an extension corresponding to the precise length of time the stay-at-home order was in effect."</p>
<p>Allowing e-signatures would make the citizen's democracy effort more susceptible to fraud and require the court "to get impermissibly in the weeds of designing election procedures," Du wrote, noting the Supreme Court precedent that strongly discourages lower federal courts from altering election rules.</p>
<p>A similar referendum is already on the ballot in <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/virginia-redistricting-amendment" target="_self">Virginia</a> and proponents for such a measure in <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/arkansas-signature-lawsuit" target="_self">Arkansas</a> are also asking the courts for more time to get signatures. Missourians, on the other hand, will vote in November on whether to <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/arkansas-signature-lawsuit" target="_self">reverse a redistricting reform initiative</a> approved two years ago.</p>
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Brian Cannon
Brian Cannon at a rally last year when the Supreme Court heard arguments about the limits of partisan gerrymandering, ultimately deciding such disputes were not for federal courts to review.
Meet the reformer: Brian Cannon, closing in on a new way to draw the Old Dominion's maps
May 29 2020
Brian Cannon has been pursuing a singular goal for five and a half years as executive director of One Virginia, growing its roster of supporters from 3,500 to more than 100,000. And in November the people of Virginia look ready to reward his work: Approval looks likely for a ballot measure creating an independent commission to draw Virginia's legislative and congressional boundaries — joining 13 other states in taking such work away from politicians who would otherwise be able to pick their own voters. Cannon came to the work after winning a statewide redistricting contest in law school, although after graduating he spent a few years as a startup business consultant. His answers have been edited for clarity and length.
What's the tweet-length description of your organization?
@1VA2021 is a trans-partisan good govt org focused on ending gerrymandering in Virginia. We believe that voting districts belong to Virginians, not to any party or politician.
<p><strong>Describe your very first civic engagement.</strong></p>
<p>When I was an undergraduate at William & Mary, there was a huge bond referendum on the 2002 ballot that would benefit higher ed in Virginia. A few friends and I saw that the only people advocating for it were college presidents and lobbyists — not any college students. We decided to change that and formed the first student-run political action committee in the country. It taught me there's a seat at the table for young voters if they do their policy homework, show up and honestly engage. Shortly thereafter we began working on <a href="https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20050123-2005-01-23-0501230054-story.html" target="_blank">textbook prices</a> and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/12/06/william-and-mary-students-pitch-in-for-professor-bonuses/beacfe88-dc60-4664-ad5a-5694754745aa/" target="_blank">lack of competitive pay for our professors</a>. </p>
<p>The Students PAC <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/02/08/va-students-standards-of-lobbying/2c36228b-ba1f-4b13-b27c-3c58ac1860ab/" target="_blank">morphed into a wonderful advocacy organization</a> called <a href="http://www.virginia21.org" target="_blank">Virginia21</a> dedicated to giving young Virginians a chance to engage in state politics and policy-making.</p>
<p><strong>What was your biggest professional triumph?</strong></p>
<p>I hope it's ahead of me, because I am working every day to give us a chance at fair maps in Virginia in 2021. So far, the list is topped by getting the redistricting reform proposal through the General Assembly and on to the November ballot. It was the culmination in March of intense grassroots lobbying building up over several years. Approval of this reform would be historic for Virginia, for the South and for the growing movement for fair maps around the country. It will take redistricting out of the smoky backroom, put citizens with an equal say at the table, add transparency, and enshrine minority voter protections in our state constitution. </p>
<p><strong>And your most disappointing setback?</strong></p>
<p>There are so many little losses from which I've learned, but perhaps the most disappointing was in 2018. Like asking a thief to return the jewels, a federal court told legislators to redraw 11 state House districts it said were racially gerrymandered. Both parties came up with new maps that were still racial gerrymanders — but which served the electoral needs of Democrats and Republicans alike. It was clear to all of us watching that this wasn't how it should work, yet it happened anyway. </p>
<p>What was disappointing was that we had a chance to do it better. We had worked for years to persuade a number of legislators to commit to an open and transparent process with citizen engagement — but some of our best allies decided that wasn't worth doing at that point. </p>
<p><strong>How does your identity influence the way you go about your work?</strong></p><p>I'm a Democrat but view myself as a reformer first. There are so many things broken in our system: campaign finance laws, first-past-the-post voting, redistricting. I don't have answers for the big problems with our tax structure, health care system or climate — but I do know we'll never get them without honest, inclusive conversations in our representative bodies. Right now, the system is rigged to make these conversations unproductive, if not impossible. </p>
<p><strong>What's the best advice you've ever been given?</strong></p>
<p>College convocation speeches usually go in one ear and out the other of an 18-year-old the first week on campus, but the address when I arrived has stayed with me. Timothy Sullivan, our college president, contrasted President Kennedy's pro-government inaugural address in 1961 ("Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country") with President Reagan's anti-government inaugural address in 1981 ("Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem"). And he said our task as students in 2000 would be finding the synthesis between these two seemingly incompatible ideas. It's a charge I've taken to heart. </p>
<p><strong>Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.</strong></p>
<p>Somehow, it would capture the spirit of Dave Daley's "UnRigged: How Americans are Battling Back to Save Democracy." He's a vegan, so it would need to respect that. There would have to be purple to represent bipartisanship. And nuts, because we're all a bit nuts to be in this reform space advocating for things most consider long-shots. After consulting an ice cream maker friend: vanilla oat milk ice cream swirled with a blueberry and fresh mint compote with a healthy dose of hazelnut cookie crumble. </p>
<p><strong>What's your favorite political movie or TV show?</strong></p><p>HBO's "Veep," because Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her castmates nail political satire so well that it's uncomfortable. I'm also, obviously, a "West Wing" fan, but that's nowhere near what real life is. Still, like "Veep," it gives those operating in a political sphere a lingua franca for our experiences. </p>
<p><strong>What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?</strong></p>
<p>I'm a big fan of Audible, so usually I'm listening to a book to wind down. The last one was about Churchill, Erik Larson's "The Splendid and the Vile." If I'm between books, though, I'll scroll Pinterest and think about all the gardening, cooking, exercising, and DIY hacks I could do. </p>
<p><strong>What is your deepest, darkest secret?</strong></p><p>I'm a grown, married man with two children. I cook meals for my family that are generally healthy and balanced. But if I'm alone for the evening, I'll often hit up the Taco Bell drive-thru for a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, a soft shell taco, a bean burrito — and those delicious cinnamon twists!</p>
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Mukhina1/Getty Images
Partisan maps hurt children, liberal group says in pushing for a campaign issue
May 28 2020
Legislative lines drawn by politicians focused on preserving their power get criticized mainly for skewing election outcomes and disenfranchising voters. But they are also having a lasting impact on the education and health care of the next generation.
That's the conclusion of a report released Thursday by a prominent progressive think tank, the Center for American Progress, which maintains that partisan gerrymandering a decade ago by Republicans in four battleground states has limited the availability of child care, education and other family support programs.
The study — which echoes similar CAP reports in recent months arguing that more gun control measures and Medicaid expansions would have been enacted in recent years but for aggressive GOP mapmaking — is part of the wave of efforts to make partisan gerrymandering an election issue this year.
<p>Liberal advocacy groups are pushing hard, and spending generously, to elect enough Democrats to legislatures in purple states that they control more of the next nationwide redistricting, which starts next year after census results are finalized. The GOP dominated the process a decade ago. Good-government groups, meanwhile, are pressing ballot measures to make more states assign the job to independent commissions that would put a premium on compact districts and electoral competition.</p><p>Putting an end to partisan gerrymandering would provide "a better, more secure future for America's children and their families," CAP says.</p><p>The report maintains that, in the past two years, the North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin legislatures shortchanged health care, education, day care and other social safety net programs for the young even though they enjoyed solid public support — concluding this could not have happened without maps that over-inflated the sizes of GOP majorities in each state capital.</p><p>In three of the states (not Wisconsin) the GOP has secured state House and Senate majorities in several recent elections where Democratic legislative candidates won the cumulative statewide vote.</p><p>All four have Democratic governors who were unable in 2018 and 2019 to win approval for budgets expanding early childhood education and child care services. Last year, for example, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed a Michigan budget with an additional $84 million to cover preschool education for poor and middle-income families — but the GOP legislature pared the increase to just $5 million.</p><p>The coronavirus pandemic has also put "an incredible strain on state budgets," the report says, which could further scale back the funding available for these programs.</p><p>"Fixing gerrymandering is not a cure-all for the struggles of children and families, but it would help to ensure that legislators reflect the wider public when they discuss these issues and craft policy solutions," the report says.</p><p>The most popular method for combating gerrymandering has been through independent redistricting commissions. Fourteen states will use such a system to redraw their legislative maps in 2021, and eight will do so for their congressional maps. <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/virginia-redistricting-amendment" target="_self">Virginia voters will</a> decide in November whether their state will join that roster next year, and <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/arkansas-signature-lawsuit" target="_self">a longshot bid</a> for a similar vote in Arkansas remains alive.</p><p>Conversely, Missourians will vote on whether to <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/redistricting/gerrymandering-missouri" target="_self">undo a redistricting reform initiative</a> they approved just two years ago.</p><p>At the same time, the more partisan push on redistricting intensified on Thursday when the <a data-linked-post="2638675638" href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/national-democratic-redistricting-committee" target="_blank">National Democratic Redistricting Committee</a>, the political action operation run by Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder, announced it would invest another $300,000 in the campaigns of 67 legislative candidates in North Carolina and Texas — on top of $150,000 spent this winter.</p><p>Turning the state capitals blue in Austin and Raleigh is within a long reach for the party, and that alone would allow the Democrats to draw 51 more congressional districts in 2021 than they did in 2011.</p>
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Redistricting
True
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
In search of Eric Holder's help in combating a Democratic gerrymander
May 21 2020
Gorrell, a retired advocate for the deaf and former Republican Party statistician, filed the first lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Maryland congressional district map drawn in 2011.
<p>"The biggest rigged system in America is gerrymandering," according to Eric Holder, who was attorney general during President Barack Obama's first term.<br/></p>
<p>And "Maryland is the shamefaced owner of the single worst gerrymander in the nation," in the view of Ashley Oleson, who runs the state's <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/league-of-women-voters" target="_self">League of Women Voters</a> chapter. </p>
<p>"The 3rd District mangles the central part of the state as it snakes its way northeast from Annapolis, then west, again eastward, and one more time northwest(ish) until it's close to the top of the state — passing in and out (and sometimes back in again) of four counties and Baltimore City," <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/worst-gerrymandering-districts-example" target="_self">she told</a> The Fulcrum last fall. "The district has been characterized by a federal judge as a 'broken-winged pterodactyl lying prostrate across the state' and also likened to 'blood spatter at a crime scene.' "</p>
<p>As an expert on redistricting drawn by hand, I do love Holder's famous <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/gerrymandering" target="_self">gerrymandering</a> quote. However, I am still puzzled because he has not taken any action yet to combat the egregious practice by the Democrats in control of the General Assembly of a state I've called home. </p>
<p>To review, Democrats have averaged 61 percent of the statewide vote for Congress in the four elections held under the current map. And each time, Democrats have won seven of the state's eight House districts.</p>
<p>Although his office in Washington is only about 30 miles west of the statehouse in Annapolis, Holder has not testified in person or even in writing before any of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over the whopping roster of 13 bills to reform redistricting that were filed this year. (At the end of a session shortened by the spread of the coronavirus, all those measures had stalled without action.)</p>
<p>Similarly, Holder did not attend any of the four oral arguments that preceded the Supreme Court's landmark decision a year ago to steer clear of partisan gerrymandering disputes — despite having an open invitation to take a seat at the highest court in the land, thanks to his being a former attorney general.</p>
<p>Suddenly, after the 2019 hearing in the Maryland redistricting case, Benisek v. Lamone, Holder appeared with one of the nation's best-known anti-gerrymanderers, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, at a National Press Club event. They discussed why they believed redistricting reform is crucial to the future of our democracy. After the conversation, both signed the End Gerrymandering Pledge circulated by <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/common-cause" target="_self">Common Cause</a>.</p>
<p>Eight months later, GOP Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and the League of Women Voters' Oleson signed it, too. "I see gerrymandering for what it is — voter suppression," she said. "It is essential that we repair the redistricting processes in Maryland and throughout the nation to ensure the voices of the people are heard, and confidence in our democracy can be restored."</p>
<p>But what about Holder? He happens to serve as chairman of the <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/national-democratic-redistricting-committee" target="_self">National Democratic Redistricting Committee</a>, which describes itself as "the centralized hub for executing a comprehensive redistricting strategy that shifts the redistricting power, creating fair districts where Democrats can compete." He claims that his program's purpose is to combat gerrymandering.</p>
<p>According to IRS filings, the organization's purpose is to "build a comprehensive plan to favorably position Democrats for the redistricting process through 2022."</p>
<p>To be clear: That does not match with Holder's famous quote. </p>
<p>Here's how he explained the disconnect during an appearance two years ago at Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service: "There are instances you can probably point to where Democrats have not played fairly, but it pales in comparison to what Republicans have done." </p>
<p>Then he mocked a congressional district in Virginia that's "only contiguous at high tide" along with a Pennsylvania district with lines that "run through a parking lot." But, in an interview afterward, he declined to similarly single out Maryland's notorious 3rd District as being an egregious example of partisan mapmaking, despite its ungainly shape.</p>
<p>"I am in complete agreement with your goal of building a democracy where voters pick their elected representatives, not the other way around," Hogan said in a February 2019 letter urging Holder and Obama, who's lent his name to the NDRC, to get behind efforts to end the era of partisan gerrymandering in his state. "With your support, I believe we can set things right in Maryland." </p>
<p>There is no sign Hogan has ever received a response.</p>
<p>And it took until last July for Holder to use the word "Maryland" in anything he's written for public consumption on the topic of partisan gerrymandering</p>
<p>In an opinion piece for The Washington Post headlined "If the Supreme Court won't protect our democracy, voters will," he included the following in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eric-holder-if-the-supreme-court-wont-protect-our-democracy-voters-will/2019/07/03/735de22e-9cdc-11e9-9ed4-c9089972ad5a_story.html" target="_blank">a discussion of the court's ruling</a>: "As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her powerful and prescient dissent, the partisan gerrymanders in Maryland and North Carolina 'debased and dishonored our democracy, turning upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people.'"</p>
<p>People like me, who have been fighting partisan mapmaking for a decade, would be more than thrilled if Holder would now apply that newfound rhetorcial zeal equally — to lines drawn by Democrats as well as Republicans. </p>He can start in Annapolis next year by taking on Democratic state Sen. Paul Pinsky, who has been the chief engineer stalling Hogan's bills on reforming redistricting in each of the past five years.
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