Yet Republican-controlled legislatures in each of those states have, in the past three months, passed laws that would outlaw abortion in most cases. The legislators realize what a lot of voters still do not: in many places in the US today, the voters don’t choose the politicians. “This is how gerrymandering sets up minority rule that voters can’t undo at the ballot box. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesBut whatever the supreme court decides, gerrymandering is too powerful a political tool for the parties to discard anytime soon. “I think you can unequivocally state gerrymandering made that happen,” Richard Gunther, professor emeritus of political science at Ohio State University, said of the law.

Source: The Guardian June 18, 2019 06:00 UTC