New analysis by @TargetSmart shared exclusively with @MotherJones finds GOP could pick up 5 seats in FL, 3 in TX, 3 in GA & 2 in NC through gerrymandering, giving them control of House in 2022
Dems could win 50% of vote in Georgia but control only 20% of House seats
Most important thing Dems can do to stop extreme gerrymandering & keep House is pass ban on partisan gerrymandering in For the People Act but time running out
“Absent the passage of HR1 the GOP is poised to gerrymander their way to a House majority” says @tbonier
White House wants to “out-organize voter suppression” but you can’t out-organize extreme gerrymandering
“You can get people to the polls, they can vote in record numbers, and if you allow unfair racial or partisan gerrymandering, that can neuter the turnout” says @EricHolder
75% of population growth in GA FL TX NC from people of color but new gerrymandered seats will go to white Republicans
6 Dem reps of color could lose seats
“The future of America is multi-racial coalitions and Republicans will have an opportunity to kneecap that” says @mcpli
It hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as provisions stopping voter suppression but ban on partisan gerrymandering most important part of For the People Act, says @davidshor
“This one part of the bill is probably five times more important than the rest of the bill combined”
“If Congress does not take action to protect voters by banning partisan gerrymandering, then the same GOP state legislatures that are destroying democracy with anti-voter bills will quickly draw Dems out of power for a decade through unchecked gerrymandered maps” - @gwlauren
.@EricHolder on amending filibuster to pass voting rights legislation: “At some point we’re going to get to a binary choice between protecting our democracy and protecting an arcane Senate procedure"
That time is now
"Republicans are rushing to tilt the country’s voting laws in their favor, and Democrats are running out of time to stop them."
If Dems don't pass legislation protecting voting rights ASAP, GOP will gerrymander them out of power for next decade
Huge case before SCOTUS today: Republicans want to reinstate extreme gerrymander in NC giving GOP 71-78% of House seats in state where Trump got 49.9% of vote & grant state legislatures unprecedented power to pass new gerrymanders & voter suppression laws motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Leonard Leo & Federalist Society engineered right-wing takeover of SCOTUS. Now they want court to give state legislatures king-like power to rig state & national elections. One anti-democratic system entrenching the other
A ruling that state legislatures could not be constrained by state courts or constitutions would eviscerate checks & balances, give heavily gerrymandered legislatures huge power to rig state & national politics & embolden them to attempt to overturn future election results
SCOOP w/ @RyanLittleE: Georgia voters 45 times more likely to have mail ballot applications rejected & not vote in Nov 2021 vs 2020 after GOP passed new voting restrictions
“States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever” Mitch McConnell claimed last year
Here are facts: "During municipal elections in Nov, Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and not vote as a result—than in 2020"
Before he sided with GOP to kill voting rights bills Joe Manchin said: “We act like we’re going to obstruct people from voting. That’s not going to happen.”
4500% increase in rejected mail ballot applications in Georgia & 700% increase in Texas shows he is very wrong
Stunning stat: 48 Democrats who supported reforming filibuster to pass voting rights bills represent 34 MILLION more Americans than 52 senators (all Republicans + Sinema/Manchin) who opposed it
48 senators who voted to reform filibuster represent 182 million Americans, 55% of US
52 senators who upheld filibuster represent 148 million Americans, 45% of US
“Manchin & Sinema allowed 41 GOP senators representing just 21% of country to block a bill they both supported that would protect voting rights for tens of millions of Americans, reinforcing how filibuster has historically been used to block civil rights” motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Sinema & Manchin represent 2.8% of US population but allowing 41 GOP senators representing just 21% of country to block voting rights bills supported by 70% of Americans that would protect voting access for tens of millions. US political system completely broken
“Sinema, by refusing to support changes to the filibuster, is now giving the anti-democratic party veto power over protecting democracy. She is saying it would be divisive and partisan to respond to a divisive and partisan effort to weaken democracy” motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
GOP states have passed new voter suppression laws, gerrymandered maps & election subversion bills through simple majority, party-line votes yet Sinema & Manchin demand bipartisan supermajority to protect voting rights. This is how coup succeeds motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
This week is one of most pivotal in history of American democracy. If Dems don’t pass federal legislation now to stop voter suppression, extreme gerrymandering & election subversion, GOP will make it impossible to have fair elections going forward motherjones.com/politics/2022/…
Republicans not just suppressing votes & subverting fair elections, but trying to enshrine anti-democratic system where they hold power no matter the views of a majority of voters
“They are basically signing off on a political apartheid system” says @ericholder
It makes no sense that Republicans can pass voter suppression laws at state level with simple majority vote & confirm right-wing judges to uphold those laws with simple majority vote but Dems can’t protect voting rights with simple majority vote
Under extreme gerrymandered Texas US House & state legislative maps:
Whites 40% population but control 60% districts
Latinos 39% of population but control 20% districts
Blacks 12% of population but control 2% districts
Asians 5% of population but control 0% districts
95% of population growth in Texas from communities of color during last decade but gerrymandered GOP maps increase # of majority white districts & decrease # of majority Latino/Black districts. Incredibly brazen racial gerrymandering motherjones.com/politics/2021/…