In the last decade, the elimination of corporate campaign contributions, the availability of vast amounts of personal information, and strategizing by party officials who want to maintain power have made it more difficult for millions of people’s votes to count in states across the country.
But people are fighting back. That is the message of Barak Goodman’s and Chris Durrance’s recently released documentary Slay the Dragon, which shines a light on gerrymandering — the practice of redrawing electoral maps to serve a single party.
Slay the Dragon features Campaign Legal Center (CLC) litigators Ruth Greenwood, Paul Smith, and Gerry Hebert, who have all played key roles in helping citizen activist groups such as Michigan’s Voters Not Politicians create non-partisan groups of citizens to draw legislative districts. These groups, known as independent redistricting commissions, put democracy over party and allow all people to vote under fair maps.
While the coronavirus pandemic has changed how people organize for democracy reform, the fight continues. CLC’s DemocracyU toolkit can offer a starting point for those inspired by this film to end gerrymandering.
For information on where to stream the film, click here.
