Self-Districting Solves Both Problems

Rick H. has recently lamented that more media attention is being paid to the current fight over mid-decade redistricting than over the Supreme Court’s potential ruling in the Louisiana Voting Rights Act case. Both are huge developments in the field of election law, and I’d hate to have to prioritize. Instead, I will just observe quickly that the system of “self-districting” that I proposed a few years ago would solve both problems. First, it would make partisan gerrymandering by government officials obsolete, thereby eliminating the concern over what is happening in Texas right now. Second, it would empower minority voters to form districts of their own choosing, thereby avoiding the necessity of a VRA remedy for minority vote dilution. Moreover, an adverse decision in the Louisiana cas