Justice Roberts says he can't prevent partisan gerrymandering because "we have no commission to allocate political power and influence in the absence of a constitutional directive or legal standards to guide us in the exercise of such authority.” Thread: politico.com/story/2019/06/…
1/ In a country where partisanship increasingly maps to the racial diversity of a community, it is naive to assume that partisan redistricting is somehow separable from racial redistricting.
2/ But we did just provide that congressional directive in #HR1.
3/ The only reason #HR1 doesn't have the force of law is because @senatemajldr has refused to bring it up for a vote in the Senate.
4/ This is the bill that - you may recall - @senatemajldr referred to as a "Democratic party power grab". salon.com/2019/01/30/mit…
5/ Make that a lower case d and delete the word "party" and he's right. It is a power grab for democracy.
6/ #HR1 gets money out of politics, reaffirms and restores key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and imposes nonpartisan, fair redistricting processes. That's good for democracy, and for any party that represents the will of the people.
7/ But that ain't @senatemajldr's game. An informed, representative electorate is apparently a threat to his employment prospects. He's told us as much.
8/ So rather than advocating for the people, he has prevented us from making #HR1 into federal law. All so he can appoint judges who share, and will codify his anti-democratic world views.
9/ The lesson? Vote. Vote no matter how many roadblocks are put in your way. Vote for every slot on the ballot for people who will put democracy first.
10/ Don't vote for a party. But make sure you vote people who - by their actions - prove that they want you to vote.
11/ There is plenty of room for respectful disagreement in our political arena. But no respect is due to those who don't put voting rights and voting access first. /fin
