GERRYMANDERING IS VOTER SUPPRESSION
The right to cast a vote and the right to have one’s vote counted are both constitutionally protected. United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 315, 61 S.Ct. 1031, 85 L.Ed. 1368 (1941).
A person’s interest in participating in the political process through voting and having that vote counted is a right both “individual and personal in nature.” Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 561, 84 S.Ct. 1362 [12 L.Ed.2d 506] (1963) as cited in Griffin v. Burns, 570 F.2d 1065, 1072 (1st Cir. 1978).
“And the right of suffrage can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise.” Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 554. Gerrymandering is both a debasement as well as a dilution.
“We do not see how an election conducted under these circumstances can be said to be fair.” Griffin, 570 F.2d at 1076.
The 9th amendment of the Bill of Rights: The enumeration of the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. The 9th addresses rights, retained by the people, that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. If there is one un-enumerated SELF-EVIDENT right belonging to the people of any Democracy it is the right to a free and FAIR ELECTION.
In Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 493, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 1686, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965), Justice Goldberg, writing in concurrence, noted:
“Nor am I turning somersaults with history in arguing that the Ninth Amendment is relevant in a case dealing with a State’s infringement of a fundamental right. While the Ninth Amendment—and indeed the entire Bill of Rights—originally concerned restrictions upon federal power, the subsequently enacted Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the States as well from abridging fundamental liberties. And, the Ninth Amendment, in indicating that not all such liberties are specifically mentioned in the first eight amendments, is surely relevant in showing the existence of other fundamental personal rights, now protected from state, as well as federal, infringement.”
The Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Unalienable rights depend on and include free and fair elections. Free and fair elections are the lifeblood of any democracy and individual freedom.
“Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.” Wesbury v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 17, 84 S.Ct. 526, 535, 11 L.Ed.2d 481 (1964).
This bears repeating: Gerrymandering is both a debasement as well as a dilution – intended to obstruct the people’s right to a fair election.