Voting Rights Attorney Talks Impact of Gerrymandering

Every 10 years, the majority party in each state redraws district lines. Parties often pack or crack districts to allow them a majority of votes, a process known as gerrymandering.

Ruth Greenwood is senior legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit aimed at holding government accountable. She will speak at a League of Women Voters of McLean County event Tuesday night. 

Greenwood said gerrymandering is often done in private, closed-door sessions, which does not allow for public input or oversight. But that’s not the main issue, she said. 

“The ongoing and bigger harm is that all of the policies that you may want to enact depend upon the legislature accurately representing the people,” she said. “And so you have these situations where you have more people voting for one party, but the other party gets elected in higher numbers.”

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