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Whatever comes of gerrymandering litigation in the courts, this decade's cases have managed to unearth a treasure trove of shocking documents about how redistricting actually happens. And the powerful lesson they offer couldn't have come at a better time. #fairmaps 1/
Go back 15 years ago and redistricting & gerrymandering were dry terms that no one other than a few really nerdy or really political people paid attention to. They didn't move regular voters one way or the other in polls. #fairmaps 2/
Today, that's completely different. Across the political spectrum, it's an issue that people are paying close attention to. And part of the reason why are some of the details that have emerged about what goes on behind closed doors. #fairmaps 3/
For example, you have Republicans in Michigan gleefully talking in emails that came to light in litigation about a map that would "cram ALL of the Dem garbage" in SE MI into just four districts. detroitnews.com/story/news/pol… #fairmaps 4/
Or emails in Texas - ordered turned over by a court - talking about OHRVS or "Optimal Hispanic Republican Voting Strength" - a slight of hand to make districts look like Latino districts on paper but perform for Republicans. #fairmaps 5/ 
In TX-23, this was done by removing higher voting Latinos in places like San Antonio and replacing them with lower voting rural Latinos. #fairmaps 6/
And then there's Florida, where emails released in litigation showed that maps supposedly submitted by the public were, in fact, drawn by highly paid GOP consultants behind the scenes - using prohibited political data. orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-re… #fairmaps 7/
And just today, new revelations in documents that Republicans in North Carolina may have misled a federal court when the state's racially gerrymandered legislative maps were being redrawn. ##fairmaps 8/ nytimes.com/2019/06/06/us/…
But let's not leave Democrats out of it. Litigation in Maryland revealed a behind the scenes Democratic scheme to maximize Democratic congressional representation. #fairmaps 9/
And as disturbing as all of these allegations are, the really, really good news is that they come just as people in states like NH, PA, VA, and AR are working on redistricting reform - efforts that now have genuinely become bipartisan things. #fairmaps 10/
And they have stirred up people to get engaged in a big way in the next round of redistricting, which now is only a year and a half away (in early 2021). Even mapdrawers in states where legislatures still draw maps will find more eyes watching than ever before. #fairmaps 11/
