Gerrymandering saps faith in democracy– www.futurity.org Source Link Excerpt:
When politicians redraw congressional district maps to favor their party, they may secure short-term victories. But those wins can come at a steep price—a loss of public faith in elections and, ultimately, in democracy itself.
That’s the conclusion of a peer-reviewed study led by University of California, Riverside political scientist Shaun Bowler in Political Research Quarterly.
The research finds that partisan gerrymandering—the manipulation of district boundaries to lock in political advantage—does more than distort representation in Congress. It undermines the belief that elections are fair, a cornerstone of democratic legitimacy.
Bowler, a professor of political science, says survey data from tens of thousands of voters in the 2020 and 2022 elections show that Americans view gerrymandering with the same disdain they reserve for bribery and other blatant forms of political corruption. The difference, he says, is that gerrymandering is carried out in full public view, cloaked in arguable legality.
Consider the current push in Texas, where Republican legislators and Governor Greg Abbott, encouraged by President Donald Trump, are working to redraw congressional districts to add five GOP seats as part a Republican effort to retain control of Congress after next year’s midterm election.
“It’s out in the open,” Bowler says. “They’re saying, ‘We’re rigging the midterm election to produce an outcome.’”
Kirk’s death reinvigorates Republicans’ redistricting race– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump’s already brass-knuckled push for red-state redistricting is taking on an increasingly apocalyptic valence among MAGA stalwarts following the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Inside an Embassy Suites ballroom in suburban Indianapolis this weekend, Sen. Jim Banks’ inaugural Hoosier Leadership for America Summit drew hundreds of attendees who came to hear from next-generation MAGA figures ranging from Alex Bruesewitz, a top Trump adviser and longtime friend of Kirk’s, to GOP strategist Alex DeGrasse.
The summit marked the first official MAGA gathering since Kirk’s death and served as both a Kirk memorial and redistricting rally, unfolding amid an increased security footprint and ubiquitous police presence throughout the conference center.
Between musical interludes featuring Jason Aldean’s “Fly over States” and “Try That In a Small Town,” MAGA leaders spoke of “demons” at work behind the shooting of Kirk and the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska and “the righteous versus the wicked.” An attendee who posed a question to Banks wondered whether Kirk’s killing “lifted the veil between good and evil.”
“This isn’t a political battle anymore,” said Bruesewitz, who spoke to the crowd with visible emotion about his friendship with Kirk dating back to their teens, and recalled their last dinner together in South Korea just days ago. “It’s a spiritual battle.”
All of it presaged a coming national political hardening on the right with Kirk’s killing as the raison d’etre. More than any other issue at the conference, Kirk’s death seeped into the rationale for mid-decade redistricting.
Utah gerrymander struck down by judge in a win for voters– www.latimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
It’s been more than 60 years since Utah backed a Democrat for president. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator left office nearly half a century ago and the last Utah Democrat to serve in the House lost his seat in 2020.
Late last month, a judge tossed out the state’s slanted congressional lines and ordered Utah’s GOP-run Legislature to draw a new political map, ruling that lawmakers improperly thumbed their noses and overrode voters who created an independent redistricting commission to end gerrymandering.
It’s a welcome pushback against the growing pattern of lawmakers arrogantly ignoring voters and pursuing their preferred agenda. You don’t have to be a partisan to think that elections should matter and when voters express their will it should be honored.
Ed Dept ends ‘abusive’ Biden policy that funded left-wing work-study election jobs– www.thecollegefix.com Source Link Excerpt:
Key Takeaways
The Trump Administration rescinded a policy allowing Federal Work-Study funds to be used for student election jobs.
The new guidance from the Education Department requires institutions to refrain from hiring individuals involved in political activities benefiting specific groups.
Critics say the Biden-era policy was an “abusive misuse” of tax dollars, meant to support Democrats.
The change comes after The College Fix found several work-study election jobs were connected to progressive organizations.
Conservative election integrity advocates praised the Trump administration for rescinding a Biden-era guidance that allowed Federal Work-Study funds to be used to employ students to perform election jobs.
The announcement came after The College Fix reported on multiple incidents of the work-study program being used to fund left-wing get-out-the-vote efforts.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese Center, called the Biden-era work-study guidance an “abusive misuse” of tax dollars, intent on ensuring “liberal organizations supporting the Biden reelection effort and the Democrat Party were provided with interns … to enhance the party’s prospects of winning elections.”
A federal appeals court on Tuesday voided a Pennsylvania law requiring proper dating of mail-in ballots. The law required the rejection of mail-in ballots improperly dated by voters. The Pennsylvania Attorney General, now a Republican, defended the law on appeal after his predecessor, a Democrat, had declined to defend it in a lower court.
Numerous types of dating errors could result in ballot rejection, the appeals court noted:
Pursuant to this “date requirement,” if a return envelope’s date field contains a mistaken additional digit, a stray pen mark, or missing information (including a year) then the ballot contained within that envelope may not be counted. (citations omitted)
The law led to 10,000 discarded ballots in the 2022 General Election. Only 4,500 ballots were discarded in the 2024 General Election after Pennsylvania redesigned the return envelope to reduce the number of discarded ballots.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that while the dating requirement only minimally burdened voters, the consequences of an improperly dated ballot outweighed any purported benefit of the requirement.
The challenge came after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania interpreted a part of the state election code requiring voters to “fill out, date and sign” their mail-in ballot. The state supreme court held that the dating requirement mandates discarding ballots that are improperly dated.
After weeks of bluster from dueling governors and state lawmakers, California and Texas raced forward with parallel action this week to draw new congressional maps, setting into motion a national redistricting fight that could upend the midterms and determine control of the House.
President Donald Trump has been warning for years that mail-in ballots and voting machines are riddled with vulnerabilities that invite fraud and undermine trust in elections. We’ve discussed these vulnerabilities here at PJ Media extensively, and now Trump is taking action on them. On Monday morning, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he will issue an executive order to put an end to mail-in ballots before the 2026 midterms and restore “honesty and integrity” to America’s elections.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is doubling down on his calls to axe Republican-led redistricting efforts after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to draw out five Republican-controlled districts in his state, which is already among the most gerrymandered in the nation. Rep. Kiley’s seat is in danger of being drawn out if Newsom’s plan succeeds.
Earlier this month, the California lawmaker introduced a bill that, if passed, would prevent states from redrawing their respective congressional maps before the 2030 census. The bill was introduced as Texas Republicans moved forward with a plan that would create five additional districts that Trump won by 10 or more points last year.
A number of additional Republican-controlled states, including Missouri, Ohio, in addition to potential plans from Indiana and Florida, are considering redistricting themselves. Republicans have argued that the move is necessary due to extreme gerrymanders in Democrat-controlled states like California, Illinois and Maryland.
President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would work to “get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.” Democrats and their media allies reflexively attacked the president, insisting that mail-in voting is secure — as if repeating it often enough makes it true.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said on CNN that “Mail ballots are secure.” ABC News’ Hannah Demissie dismissed Trump’s claims as “without … evidence” before later conceding fraud does occur, but that it’s “rare” (as if any amount of voter fraud should be tolerated). ABC7 Eyewitness News said Trump “falsely” claimed mail-in ballots “lead to voter fraud.”
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace said Trump’s comments are “completely false” and claimed there is “zero evidence” to support his voter fraud claims in U.S. elections.
Fulton County BOC Members who refuse, under Court order, to appoint the GOP Nominees. From Left to Right: Commissioners Marvin Arrington Jr, Mo Ivory, Dana Barrett
Last week, a judge ordered the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to seat two Republican Party nominees: Jason Frazier and Julie Adams. The two were nominated in May but have yet to be seated.
Two of the Democrat members, Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, were able to thwart Commissioner Bridget Thorne’s motion to confirm the two Republican appointees. Because of the absence of three other members on the seven-member board, the motion was blocked in a 2-2 vote.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by state Republican legislators seeking to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) plan to redistrict California’s congressional map.
“Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” reads a brief order posted to the docket.
Newsom has hit back at Republican redistricting efforts in Texas by pushing for a special election this November to get voters’ approval on a more favorable House map for Democrats in California in time for the 2026 midterms.
The ruling paves the way for the California legislature to proceed with voting as soon as Thursday on a package that would set up the special election.
As if Republicans didn’t have enough problems trying to hold on to the House majority, along comes Utah to give them a whole new problem.
Republicans once again tried to ignore the will of the people and the state’s constitution, and the matter went to court.
The Campaign Legal Center explained what happened:
The court determined that the Utah state legislature violated the people’s right to alter or reform their government when they repealed Proposition 4, or Prop 4 – a ballot initiative that aimed to prohibit partisan gerrymandering by establishing the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and creating fair, neutral criteria and procedures for adopting district maps.
Prop 4, which was passed by Utah voters and unconstitutionally repealed by the legislature, is now the law again. The current gerrymandered congressional map passed by the legislature may not be used in future elections. The Utah state legislature now has a chance to pass a new, fair map that complies with Prop 4, and if it does not, the court will order a new map, which will be used for the 2026 election.
President Trump on Monday announced he will turn his attention to election integrity and will sign an executive order aimed at eliminating mail-in ballots and voting machines in the 2026 midterm elections.
Democrats released a congressional map for California Friday that could give them five more districts more favorable to Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been pushing to redistrict California as President Donald Trump demanded Texas Republicans redraw the state’s map mid-decade in an effort to create a cushion to retain the GOP’s razor-thin House majority.
California, as the most populous state, has the largest congressional delegation. Democrats currently hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats, and the new map could give Democrats a 48-4 advantage.
The far-left failure Governor Newsom is forcing a special election in an already very gerrymandered state into a utterly one party state. Newsom is a threat to democracy. Newsom claims gerrymandering is evil so he is going to super-gerrymander California’s existing gerrymandered congressional districts. Think about that.
Newsom wants to increase Democrat representation by five more, which would give Democrats 92% representation, while 40% of California votes Republican.
BREAKING 🚨 Voters in California overwhelmingly oppose Gov Gavin Newsom’s plan to gerrymander the State 64%-36%
Former President Barack Obama is supporting California’s mid-cycle redistricting effort as a “responsible approach” to Republicans drawing new maps in Texas.
Obama praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure proposal to redraw congressional districts and tilt at least five congressional districts in the state towards Democrats at a fundraiser on Tuesday for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“I believe that Governor Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach,” he said, according to excerpts obtained by POLITICO. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”