What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is the term used to describe the manipulation of voting district boundaries based on partisanship or race to achieve an unfair advantage.  

To understand gerrymandering, it is important to understand the process of drawing district maps.

The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to conduct a census...

Election outcomes should be determined by voters, not politicians who manipulate voting maps.

But gerrymandering — the manipulation of the map-drawing process for political gain — makes it easier for politicians and political parties to consolidate power and win elections at the expense of voters and our democracy.  

Gerrymandering directly affects...

In the November 2024 election, an overwhelming majority of voters in Washington, D.C. voted to pass Initiative 83 (I-83), which introduced ranked choice voting and semi-open primaries for elections in the District of Columbia.  

Campaign Legal Center, on behalf of our clients who proposed and supported I-83, has successfully defended the will of the...

The American system of representative self-government is being tested in ways we haven’t seen in generations, if ever. President Donald Trump’s second term has brought a wave of actions that challenge the very principles that system is built on.  

From attempting to take control of federal elections to threatening peaceful protestors and bypassing...

During the 2026 election cycle, Campaign Legal Center continues to vigilantly monitor and demand public accountability for Hatch Act violations. Nonpartisanship as a cornerstone of civil service is a principle outlined in the Constitution, reaffirmed by the courts and protected by the law — namely, through the Hatch Act. The public has the right to...

When wealthy special interests can purchase access, influence and favor from public officials, Americans lose trust that the government works for them. President Donald Trump’s planned construction of a massive ballroom at the White House undermines the fundamental trust and expectation that the government works on behalf of the people.

Trump’s...

Elections are big business. Federal candidates and political parties routinely raise and spend millions of dollars to seek public office. Outside groups like super PACs unleash torrents of additional money to back their favored candidates. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that political ad spending in the 2026 midterms is projected to top $10...

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a responsibility to protect Americans’ freedom to vote, but recent actions by the DOJ — taken at the behest of President Donald Trump and other members of his administration — are now threatening that very freedom.  

Beginning in the spring of 2025, the DOJ embarked on a sweeping effort to demand highly...

With the 2026 midterms approaching, the Trump administration and its allies have intensified a sweeping campaign to erode the safeguards that keep our elections free, fair and secure. These efforts form a clear pattern: undermining the rule of law; destabilizing election administration; and weakening our institutions and election protections.

This...

The Trump administration has dramatically expanded a little-known immigration status verification tool called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, pulling in data from multiple federal databases and encouraging states to run information about millions of voters through the program.

Election officials and experts warn...

In 2024, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued an advisory opinion (AO) that created a new, legally indefensible loophole in federal campaign finance law permitting federal candidates to outsource and conceal millions of dollars in spending on canvassing coordinated with supposedly “independent” groups. 

This unlawful opinion disregarded...

States across the country are redrawing their congressional districts in an unprecedented mid-decade race to the bottom to reshape voting maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Florida has joined this race, attempting to implement a map that violates the state constitution and silences voters.

Passed during a special session called by Governor...

A 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais has eviscerated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and opened the door for states to enact discriminatory voting maps and laws.

This decision — which contradicts the text of the Voting Rights Act, the will of Congress and the Constitution — is one of the most consequential setbacks for...

Dismissal from the civil service due to political beliefs, whether one’s own beliefs or the beliefs of one’s family, is blatantly unlawful. Congress has long protected civil servants from discrimination based on their personal political beliefs, and all Americans have a First Amendment right to their beliefs.  

But President Trump’s relentless...

President Donald Trump’s second administration has appointed dozens of former lobbyists to important government roles, including leadership positions in the very agencies they formerly lobbied. Consequently, special interests have been given undue influence on major policies that impact American life.

This phenomenon, commonly referred to as the...

Recent attempts by the Trump administration to take control over different aspects of our elections have raised questions about what the federal government can and cannot do when it comes to our elections.  

So, what is the proper legal role of the federal government in election administration?

The United States has a largely decentralized election...

Extensive evidence developed through an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics shows that former Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick violated federal campaign finance laws when she and her agents used a “straw donor” scheme to deliberately conceal the true sources of funding behind her 2022 congressional campaign...

After a year and a half of litigation, Virginia voters can finally register to vote without fear that they will be illegally purged from voter rolls on the eve of an election.  

Following a lawsuit filed by Campaign Legal Center and a pro-voter coalition to end an illegal voter purge before the 2024 president election, voters have agreed to a...

The Trump administration has been attempting to reshape the American electorate from day one of his second term.  

Whether through issuing unconstitutional executive orders that have attempted to end birthright citizenship, illegally impose requirements that would make it harder to register to vote, and upend vote-by-mail, or through advocating for...

Any attempt to limit the freedom to vote is an attempt to silence American voices. All across the country, states have been passing bills that would require voters to provide unnecessary and difficult-to-obtain documentation in order to register to vote.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has been at the forefront of challenging these laws because our...

After the events of January 6 revealed gaps and ambiguities in the process for certifying presidential elections, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) of 2022. This comprehensive bipartisan bill updated the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and was a major victory for voters’ ability to make their voices heard in future presidential...