Melfa woman encourages Virginians to keep gerrymandering out of Virginia

A neutral, open and fair process should be used to draw Congressional district maps. Virginia currently uses an independent commission to do so. We should never allow politicians in Richmond to gerrymander our 11 Congressional districts to gain partisan advantage.

Gerrymandering has a sad history. In 1812, a proposed Massachusetts district map resembled a salamander. Governor Gerry approved it even though he knew it unfairly favored his party. Thus began the practice of manipulating maps to favor partisans and undermine the voting power of opponents.

Gerrymandered maps have also been used to suppress the votes of minorities. In more recent history, the maps in some states have been gerrymandered to an extreme. The Texas map favoring Republicans and the proposed California map favoring Democrats are the two worst examples in 50 years, with 5-seat partisan gains in each case.

Manipulating district maps has been made easier with sophisticated mapping software along with detailed voter history records, demographic information and consumer data. The software can test thousands of map configurations to achieve a desired outcome with a high probability of success.

In the history of gerrymandering, including the first case in 1812, the party in disfavor is subsequently able to gain power and reverse the gerrymandering in its own favor.
Never is gerrymandering to unfairly influence elections a good idea. It ignores the wishes of the American people who oppose gerrymandering by a huge majority.

The 200-year-old practice of gerrymandering is a threat to democracy. Gerrymandering to favor/disfavor a specific group hurts all voters. Voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.

Vote NO to the Proposed Constitutional Amendment to allow the General Assembly to gerrymander Virginia to favor Democrats in 10 of 11 congressional districts. This would be another worst-case scenario with significant impact to communities that will be fragmented and underrepresented.

Voting starts March 6 at the Registrar’s Office in Accomac. Do not delay, vote No to the referendum question on or before April 21.

Jean Sellard, Melfa