Joshua A. Douglas is a law professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is the author of “Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting.”
The Supreme Court ruled in June that federal courts are closed to claims of partisan gerrymandering. But never fear, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority: “numerous [states] are restricting partisan considerations in districting through legislation,” either by legislative enactment or ballot initiative.
That alternative method to solve the problem is no saving grace. Many states simply do not allow ballot initiatives. In others, entrenched politicians will not give up their power easily.
Consider what happened this month in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire legislature passed a bipartisan bill that would have created an independent redistricting commission for that state. But Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, vetoed the bill, an act that was fundamentally anti-democracy. Instead of agreeing with most New Hampshire voters and legislators that gerrymandering harms our democracy, Sununu instead chose to keep the power to gerrymander with self-interested politicians.
