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DLC | Political Study | June 19, 2008
Gerrymandering the Vote
How a "Dirty Dozen" States Suppress as Many as 9 Million Voters
Editor's Note: Click here for the full report. (May take a minute to download. File size: 5.7 MB.)
Voters are frustrated by the gridlock
in Washington. Surf by C-SPAN on
the dial and it is not hard to find
members talking past one another from the
political extremes.
In large measure, today's stalemate is the
result of partisan gerrymandering. The
boundaries that separate districts hew to
the partisan advantage of one party or
the other, encouraging members of Congress
to play to their party's base, rather
than the broad center of the electorate.
When members can't lose, voters do --
because it takes pressure off Congress to
get the job done.
But gerrymandering has another nefarious
effect: pre-determined election results
suppress the vote. This study explores
just how dramatically partisan redistricting
hampers the ability of voters to affect
policy in Washington, D.C.
Low Voter Turnout. The United
States ranks 139th in the world in terms
of voter participation, according to the
Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance.
30,000 Additional Voters Cast
Ballots in Competitive Elections. On average, 30,000 additional
voters cast ballots when elections are
competitive. That's the equivalent of expanding
the voting pool by one-sixth.
11 Million Votes Suppressed. As many as 11 million voters fail to cast
ballots because of gerrymandering.
86 percent of Members Coast
into Office. During 2002, 91 percent
of House members won their seat by
10 percent or more. And in 2006, all
but 60 of the 435 voting members of
the House won by as large a spread.
28 Percent More Voters in
Most Vs. Least Competitive
Districts. On average, 214,000 voters
cast ballots in each of the 60 most
competitive House races run in 2006.
In 60 of the least competitive elections
(where members won by between 50
and 90 percentage points), only 153,000
voters came out to have their choices
counted -- 28 percent fewer.
"Dirty Dozen" States. Of the almost
11 million suppressed votes, as
many as 9 million might be cast in 12 particular
states: Alabama, California, Georgia,
Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,
Virginia, and West Virginia.
NOTE: Statistics on "Low Voter Turnout," are from:
"Turnout in the World -- Country by Country Performance,"
International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance,
http://www.idea.int/vt/survey/voter_turnout_pop2.cfm.
The other aforementioned statistics are from:
"Election Results," Federal Election Commission,
http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/electionresults.shtml.
Download the full report
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