End Gerrymandering

There is a simple, logical solution

by Doug Smith

May 9, 2026

Thanks to the Supreme Court essentially gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on May 2nd, we once again see clearly the weaknesses in our current system of redistricting. For years, the “one person, one vote” ideal has been trashed by devious politicians of both parties who cluster voters in such as way as to minimize the ability of the out-of-power party to ever regain control of that seat. Gerrymandering is wrong, it has always been wrong, and it’s got to end!  

Reform will not be easy.  It will require a Constitutional Amendment to get around the Supreme Court’s rulings weakening the VRA.  They are making it increasingly difficult for citizens to fight gerrymandering through legal means. 

·         In 2013, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision struck down federal oversight of states with histories of discrimination, opening the door to a wave of laws that disproportionately impact Black, Latino, elderly, and young voters.  Texas was the first state to issue new restrictive rules after that decision was issued. 

·         In 2023, the Eighth Circuit Court delivered another blow, ruling that only the U.S. Attorney General—not private citizens or civil rights groups—could bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA. These rulings silence the very communities the Voting Rights Act was designed to protect.

·         And now in 2026, the May 2^nd ruling ends what has been the most successful way Black and other minority voters have gotten fair representation in Congress. It will make all our legislative bodies whiter and significantly diminish protection for minority voters.

As has been observed many times, with our current system, voters don’t choose their representatives, the representatives choose their voters.  Majority parties use software that takes voter registration data and creates distorted districts that dilute the impact of the minority party’s population centers.  That’s why they have those bizarre shapes that look like salamanders.  (When Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry first did that back in 1812, that’s how the term “gerrymandering” got its name.) 

Yes, some states have adequate protections against gerrymandering, such as here in Iowa.  Farsighted legislators back in 1964 ensured district boundaries would be drawn according to statistical analysis, not by the whims of politicians.  But to push such non-partisan rules on a state-by-state basis would be the work of generations and could be easily undone.  No, if this is to be, this must be done by the hard work of amending the U.S. Constitution. 

I’m no Constitutional expert, but it seems like there is a simple, logical solution.  We need an Amendment that takes redistricting out of the hands of politicians!  It should either be a statistical model, like Iowa’s, or it should be done by a non-partisan commission, which some states have already implemented.  On such a commission, no individual should be allowed to serve on a Commission more than once in their lifetime, and no past or current elected officials should serve on any Redistricting Commission.  Redistricting should be based solely on population, and all districts within each state should be as close to equal in population as possible. 

Easy, right?  But although it may seem simple, it will be next to impossible to become a reality.  That’s because politicians in most states already have the system they want, a system they control to their own benefit!  They are not motivated to reform the system. 

This is where YOU come in.  If you believe in this, if this is important to you, it will require you to insist that the candidates you vote for are committed to fully supporting a Redistricting Amendment.  Every new idea that has come along in our nation’s history that was worthwhile and helped make our country stronger has come from the ground up, not the top down.  We The People are the ultimate arbiters of the rules we agree to live under.    

The Supreme Court’s horrible decisions could actually work out for good if it focuses the attention of enough people on the inequities of our current system, and motivates people to work for change.  The unfair contortions of gerrymandering will continue to plague us all, until WE TOGETHER take up the cause and fight to see that it’s implemented! 

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