A re-districting process before the decennial census can be considered as a highly controversial act, such as the case of 2003 Texas redistricting. Based on the constitutional and statutory law, the given procedure is not a direct violation of the regulatory points. In other words, the pre-decennial census is not prohibited by the law because there are no precise statements within the Constitution, which specify the details of the process (The Big Buy: Tom DeLay’s Stolen Congress). For example, Article I, Section 2 mandates that congressional apportionments are made based on the enumeration of the nation’s population (“Redistricting Criteria” par. 4). In other words, the Constitution requires conducting a decennial census and connecting it with the re-districting of the states to adjust the boundaries in accordance with the shifts in the masses.
The re-mapping process needs to be a reserved power of the states in order to maximize the representative democracy. In the case of Texas redistricting, the phenomenon can be explained on the basis of its individualistic political culture and Don’t Mess With Texas attitude. The Texas Constitution exhibits a more detailed and specified approach towards the re-mapping procedures compared to the Constitution (“Constitutional Background to Congressional and Legislative Redistricting” par. 14). In other words, the statutory laws are able to fill the gaps left within the federal regulations, which is why it is plausible to allocate the authority for states. In addition, the general attitude of Texas has always been highly individualistic and separated from the United States due to its historical origins and contemporary conditions.
However, re-districting mid-decade or prior to the important election events should be suspected as gerrymandering. Such a re-mapping needs to be analyzed on the basis of the criteria, such as contiguity or compactness (Kury 28). Gerrymandering is an arbitrary demarcation of electoral districts to artificially change the balance of political forces in them and, as a result, in the whole territory of elections. Gerrymandering violates the equality of citizens’ voting rights, such as the principle of equal representation from an equal number of voters. That is, in a broader sense, gerrymandering is a method of cutting polling stations that gives an advantage to one of the candidates for an elective position during an election campaign. This consists of territorial localization and de-localization of polling stations with a predominance of supporters or opponents of the candidate.
The principle of equal suffrage means that each voter has the same number of votes as any other voter, and the weight of the voter’s voice should not be influenced by the electoral system used in the state. Compliance with this principle also means that every citizen has equal opportunities when running for election (Kury 57). Violations of this principle are usually a violation of the principle of equality of the number of voters in the formation of electoral districts, such as gerrymandering (Kury 61). It can also include discrimination against women, discrimination based on occupation, and discrimination based on religion.
Gerrymandering is widely used in countries with majoritarian parliamentary elections and a strong party system, in particular the United States. In order to get the maximum number of their representatives into parliament, the opposition party’s voters are concentrated in several constituencies, and in the rest, they make a small but sure advantage of their party. For this, constituencies with an unequal number of voters are created, as well as abnormal constituencies of a territorial form. Therefore, one might argue that states should be able to regulate the re-mapping timing except for the one after the decennial census.
Works Cited
“Constitutional Background to Congressional and Legislative Redistricting.” TexasPolitics. Web.
“Redistricting Criteria.” NCSL, 2019. Web.
Kury, F. L. Gerrymandering: A Guide to Congressional Redistricting, Dark Money, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Hamilton Books, 2018.
The Big Buy: Tom DeLay’s Stolen Congress. Directed and produced by Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck, 2006.