In November 2022, Americans will vote to decide who controls the U.S. House of Representatives. While the practice happens every two years, this year is particularly noteworthy. That’s because once every decade states can redraw the lines of their congressional voting districts. This practice enables gerrymandering, or the sorting of voters into strategic districts to tip elections one way or another.
The game starts off simple, in Wyoming, where a single congressional seat is up for grabs, so there’s a single voting district. The one district is literally the big rectangle of Wyoming. Sinking a put is no problem in this logical course.
But by the time you reach hole number 3, you’re in Ohio, where Republicans divided Cincinnati (a Democratic stronghold) into three separate districts through a technique dubbed “cracking.” You get to play a course that starts in a large, red, rural area, cuts through the heart of the city through a tiny, almost impassable gate, and then land in more country. This course makes no sense. This map makes no sense. And that’s the idea. Good luck making par. (I couldn’t!)
Republicans aren’t the only gerrymandering party. Democrats have split Maryland up into a complicated, mutant amoeba maze to maximize blue votes that puts pretty much all other gerrymandering maps to shame. But as The Post points out, Republicans have a significant advantage in redrawing districts into the next election (along with all sorts of other laws they are passing to make voting harder in battleground states).
In any case, it’s absurd that our democracy hangs in the balance of a few zany mini golf courses drawn by politicians. Which is exactly why we need to support laws that protect voting rights for everyone.