A new poll commissioned by the right-leaning R Street Institute found that 57% of Republican voters support independent redistricting commissions (IRC).
With a strong majority of polled Republican voters supporting IRCs, this new finding reinforces the fact that public opposition to politician control over the redistricting process is bipartisan. In fact, only 31% of Americans surveyed in the R Street poll approve of the way their state draws congressional and legislative boundaries.
This is no surprise, since most voters live in a state where politicians have designed the redistricting process specifically to protect incumbents, shielding politicians from transparency and real accountability to the voters.
R Street’s poll confirms that public opinion is behind one of Campaign Legal Center (CLC)’s leading reforms to end the anti-democratic practice of gerrymandering, citizen-led movements to establish IRCs.
R Street’s findings are consistent with a poll commissioned by CLC that found voters strongly support the creation of IRCs and overwhelmingly prefer congressional districts with no partisan bias, even if it means fewer seats for their own party.
Around the country, there is a growing movement for IRCs. Since the U.S. Supreme Court refused to step in to police gerrymandering when CLC and partners brought cases to the high court in 2019, citizens are speaking out about their belief that voters – not politicians – should decide how electoral maps are drawn.
Citizen-led commissions, like those passed in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri and Utah, have been highly successful in ensuring that voting maps represent the population. They’ve been implemented in red, blue, and purple states. Other states across the country should follow this lead and continue to fight back against partisan gerrymandering.
For elections to be free and fair, every vote should count equally and every voice should be heard.