Gerrymandering: Our Democracy At Risk

Gerrymandering threatens an already imperiled democracy. Under its sway, the congressional and state legislature districts carved out in secret by hyper partisan map makers end up distorting voter representation and concerns. The result in states like North Carolina and Maryland is that one party maintains a disproportionate hold on offices and policy agendas. Voters in both parties agree that the time has come for reforms to make the process of redistricting fairer. With the recent release of the 2020 census data and the possibility of passing new voting rights legislation, we have a chance to undo the excesses of gerrymandering that have fed political frustration and extremism.

Join us on June 10, 2021 when Moderator Ryan O’Connell HR'73, one of the authors of a new ClassACT primer Gerrymandering: Our Democracy at Risk, leads a panel of experts on reforming redistricting. The panelists include Alicia Bannon, Managing Director, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University; Brian Cannon, Director of Campaigns at the Institute for Political Innovation and former Executive Director of OneVirginia2021; Jim Harbison HR'73, PhD ’77, former physicist and computer scientist at Bell Labs and IBM, now focused on the mechanics and mathematics underlying gerrymandering; and Michael Li, Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice. This Forum was developed by our gerrymandering subcommittee, led by Bahman Mossavar Rahmani '73, co-chair of ClassACT's Justice & Civic Engagement Initiative.

Recently, ClassACT announced the availability of a primer on Gerrymandering that is written and produced by three members of our class: Ryan O'Connell, Jim Harbison, and Sallie Gouverneur. The primer will help you learn about gerrymandering, why it hurts our democracy, and what action steps you might take to stop it. Click the link below to read!