""If left unchecked, gerrymanders like the ones here may irreparably damage our system of government," Associate Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent. Kagan argued that Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland - the two examples before the court - had rigged elections in a way that "deprived citizens of the most fundamental of their constitutional rights," "debased and dishonored our democracy" and turned "upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people.""
"Democrats don't deny that the measure is a deliberate attempt to dilute GOP voting power. From the start, they've argued that the point of redistricting is to weaken Republicans' voting power in California - a move they justify on the grounds that it is a temporary fix to offset similar partisan gerrymandering by Texas Republicans. This summer, President Trump upped the ante, pressing Texas to rejigger maps to shore up the GOP's narrow House majority ahead of the 2026 election."
Associate Justice Elena Kagan warned that unchecked partisan gerrymanders could irreparably damage democratic governance, deprive citizens of constitutional rights, and invert the principle that governmental power derives from the people. Proposition 50 would replace congressional maps drawn by California's independent redistricting commission with maps drawn by legislators through 2030, explicitly to favor Democrats. Democratic leaders acknowledge the plan aims to dilute Republican voting power as a temporary countermeasure to Republican gerrymanders in other states. President Trump has urged Texas to redraw maps to protect the GOP House majority. Legal experts say federal challenges to the maps are unlikely to succeed.
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