Gerrymandering
Same voters. Different lines. Different winners.
Every ten years — and lately, whenever it suits them — the people in power redraw the districts that elect them. Done right, the lines follow communities. Done the other way, the outcome is decided before anyone votes.
Fair
3–2
brass seats – ink seats
Each district is a compact block. Brass wins 60% of the vote and 60% of the seats.
Try all three. Nobody moved. Nobody changed their vote.
Why it matters, whichever party does it
The point of an election is that voters can fire the people in charge. A safe seat removes that option before the campaign starts.
When a district can’t be lost in November, the only threat is a primary challenger — which rewards playing to the base, not the district.
Cities, neighborhoods and minority communities are cut apart or packed together so their votes count for less.
2025–26 showed it: one state redraws, another answers. Each side says it is only defending itself. Nobody can stop alone.
The 2025–26 redraw
This isn’t hypothetical. 9 states redrew their maps for this November.
States usually redraw once, after the census. Starting in 2025 they redrew mid-decade — and answered each other. Here is what the new maps were built to do.
Pick a state
Maps don’t draw themselves.
Everyone on the record →Drew the lines · 15
Were pushed to, and refused · 5
What actually fixes it
Independent commissions
Citizens, not legislators, draw the lines. Arizona, Colorado and Michigan do it for Congress — and California did until Prop 50 set its commission aside through 2030.
Rules in the state constitution
Florida bans maps drawn to favor a party. Utah voters passed Prop 4, and a court enforced it in 2025. Rules only work when courts will enforce them.
One national rule
Federal law doesn’t forbid redrawing mid-decade, so most states can. A national standard — one map per census, drawn by the same rules everywhere — would end the arms race.
Happening now
Missouri, Proposition A — citizens forced this vote with a referendum petition the Secretary of State tried to reject. A yes vote approves the 2025 map, aimed at the Kansas City seat, from 2028; a no vote keeps the 2022 lines. Official ballot measures
Maryland, Question 3 — a constitutional amendment that would loosen compactness rules for congressional maps from 2028. About Question 3
Where and how to voteBecome a map watcher
Special sessions get called on short notice. Watchers keep an eye on their legislature’s calendar and hearing notices and tell us the day something moves.
Sign up and tick “map watcher” ↓Bring an independent commission to your state
Michigan did it by petition in 2018. Ohio tried in 2024 and lost after the ballot language called it gerrymandering. We’ll tell you when an effort starts where you live.
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Every state, every cycle, every name — sourced. No party money, no ads.
Donate →Join the watch
Maps move in a week. We’ll make sure you hear.
- 1AlertA map is proposed, a court rules, or a petition starts in your state.
- 2AskOne specific thing that week — a hearing, a petition, a call, a gift.
- 3ResultWhat happened because people showed up. Then we go quiet.