Is gerrymandering unconstitutional?

Gerrymandering, or drawing legislative and congressional district lines to benefit the party in power, has been a political tactic since the 1800s. But as the nation grows more entrenched in party lines and gerrymandering gets more extreme with the help of technology, the question of how to draw voting districts has drawn a lot of attention. The Supreme Court recently sent two gerrymandering cases from Wisconsin and Maryland back to the lower courts, but as 2020 redistricting time looms closer, people are wondering whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional.

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Partisan Gerrymandering: How Much Is Too Much?

Listen

Why Wisconsin Became A Pivotal Front In Nationwide Redistricting Fight

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Additional resources to think about

An Unbridgeable Divide? Pennsylvania's (Ongoing) Story Of Gerrymandering And Redistricting
Pennsylvania's population is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, but before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck it down, the congressional map gave one party a 5 district advantage.

The Gerrymandering Project
This reporting project from FiveThirtyEight looks at what effects gerrymandering actually has on democracy.

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Is gerrymandering unconstitutional?

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