Engel Calls Scotus Ruling on Partisan Gerrymandering "a Horrendous Decision"

Statement

Congressman Eliot Engel issued the following statement on today's Supreme Court ruling which validates partisan gerrymandering of districts:

"This is a horrendous decision. The Supreme Court is saying that it is ok for political parties to suppress voting rights and the will of the people in order to maintain their own power. Political parties will now have a field day drawing district lines and cherry-picking their voters at the expense of the community's best interests. If there is anything less democratic than that, I can't think of it.

"SCOTUS has legally sanctioned partisanship here, which isn't shocking considering just how partisan this court has become. Their decision also tramples on a prior SCOTUS ruling, the landmark Baker v. Carr case, which enabled federal courts to hear redistricting cases and affirmed the standard of one person, one vote. Elections have consequences, and this ruling is the direct result of the awful direction our country took in November of 2016.

"This disgraceful decision will go down as one of the most un-American ever made by a Supreme Court. Just as we saw with Citizens United and Shelby, today's SCOTUS ruling will forever affect our ability to have free and fair elections. Congress needs to fix this by passing a Constitutional Amendment that addresses these fundamental problems with our electoral system. I have already introduced one, H.J.Res. 9."

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