Letter writing for Saturday, July 20th, from 9:00 to 10:30 at the Hideaway, will focus on gerrymandering and a senate hearing of the For the People Act. The President of the LWV sent out the following email last week about the recent Supreme Court ruling:
“The Supreme Court ruled in our partisan gerrymandering cases out of North Carolina and Maryland. While we are disappointed in the Court’s decision that no fair test exists for courts to determine when partisan gerrymandering has gone too far—our work for fair maps has never been more important.
And there IS a path forward.
Through the establishment of independent, citizen-led redistricting commissions at the state level to draw electoral districts, we can put power back into the hands of the people, not politicians. Redistricting commissions—such as those passed in Colorado, Michigan, and Utah in 2018—have been highly successful in ensuring that district maps fairly represent the population.
Fair maps are also possible through Congressional action. The For the People Act, which the League helped to shape earlier this year, includes fair redistricting standards for the entire country. This legislation has already passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, but it needs more support in the Senate. The League is pushing for a Senate hearing on this bill so that every American can hear for themselves the content of the For the People Act.”
We will write letters to Senators Klobuchar and Tina Smith to continue to advocate for a Senate hearing of the For the People Act. Although these two senators may already support For the People, it will help them to be able to talk about the number of constituents they have heard from who consider this an important issue.
