Gerrymandering Is Not Democracy — It’s a Rigged Game for Party Power

Gerrymandering isn’t some obscure political quirk — it’s a direct attack on democracy. As Ken Patterson lays out in an opinion for The Asheville Citizen Times, this practice has been around since 1812, when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry drew district lines to pack his opponents into a salamander-shaped district. The result? An unfair advantage for his party, and a lasting term for a slimy tactic that still corrodes our political system.

At its core, gerrymandering lets the party in power pick their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives. The Constitution requires redistricting after each census but leaves the actual map-drawing to states — usually to whichever party controls the legislature. That’s a recipe for corruption. North Carolina’s recent example is telling: after a conservative shift on the state Supreme Court, Republicans redrew district maps in 2023 outside the normal census cycle, flipping a 7-7 congressional delegation into a 10-4 GOP majority in 2024.

Here’s how it works: imagine a state evenly split between two parties. By packing a party’s voters into just a few districts, the other party can dominate the rest. This creates a distorted 7-to-3 advantage, even though the overall vote is balanced. It’s not democracy — it’s a rigged game.

The consequences go beyond unfair wins. Safe districts breed complacency, letting politicians ignore their constituents and push extreme agendas without accountability. Balanced districts force dialogue, compromise, and true representation — the essence of democracy.

While voter fraud is hyped as a crisis, the real theft is happening through gerrymandering and voter suppression. Some states have moved to nonpartisan or bipartisan commissions to draw fairer maps, but North Carolina and many others have yet to catch up. We need to demand independent redistricting commissions and federal laws to stop this abuse.

Democracy means valuing every voice, not just the party in power. Gerrymandering rigs the system against fairness and representation. It’s time to call out this corruption and fight for a democracy we can all trust.