Gerrymandering is the single most significant cause of the current gridlock in Congress.  Congress’s approval rating is currently one of the lowest in history, at 10% (CNN poll).  The majority of Americans are fed up with the paralysis on Capitol Hill.  And yet, many of the extremist politicians on both sides who are causing the grid-lock are not in any danger of losing their seats at the next election.  Why is this?  Because congressional districts are so gerrymandered that many of them are either overwhelmingly liberal or overwhelmingly conservative.  This leads not only to a greatly increased tendency to elect extreme right- or left-wing politicians, but also a gross disparity between the number of actual votes won vs. the number of seats won by either party.  An article from Dec. 14, 2012, in the New York Times states:

“In states where Republicans controlled the [redistricting] process, […] their candidates won roughly 53 percent of the vote — and 72 percent of the seats. And in the states where Democrats controlled the process, their candidates won about 56 percent of the vote and 71 percent of the seats.

An analysis by The New York Times of states where courts, commissions or divided governments drew the maps found a much smaller disparity between the share of the popular vote and the number of seats won in Congress.”

The House of Representatives is supposed to be the federal institution which most accurately reflects the will, constitution, and diversity of the people.  With our current system, it does not.  As long as gerrymandering continues, there will be very little chance of electing more moderate candidates or honoring the popular vote in each state.  The U.S. government will be thrown into paralysis again and again, and the world will wonder why the most powerful country on earth can’t accomplish even the most basic things to keep the itself running.   

Gerrymandering needs to stop.    

Currently, 6 states draw their congressional districts using an independent commission or a bipartisan politician commission.  7 states don’t need to draw congressional districts lines because they only have one Representative in the House.  But in the remaining 37 states, including Illinois, redistricting is done either primarily or entirely by the state legislature, and most of these states require only a simple majority vote to pass their redistricting plan.  That means that whichever party controls the state legislature has complete control over the way congressional districts are drawn.  This needs to change.  Redistricting should be carried out by either independent or bi-partisan commissions in ALL states.  Unfortunately, this is a change that must happen in each state individually.  The passage of a federal ban on gerrymandering is not likely since many of the very legislators who need to vote it into law would lose their jobs if it passes.  That’s why I’m petitioning the State of Illinois Governor and Legislature to make this change in our state.  I strongly encourage people in other states to create petitions to their own state governments as well.  If you live or vote in Illinois, please sign this petition and make our voices heard.  Let’s do our part to make sure that this damaging, disgraceful situation in our Congress never happens again.