Gerrymandering: A Pollution to Honest Democracy

Gerrymandering is a corrupt tool utilized by people in positions of power to maintain or

gain increased power and/or status. This form of manipulation pollutes the concept of

democracy and negates the voting power of the people, diminishing a core foundational pillar

of democracy; the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them.

Gerrymandering creates disproportionate representation and inhibits the manipulation of the

citizens vote, rendering it to be meaningless and ineffective. Democracy stands grounded in

every citizen having the right to vote. Some may disagree and argue that people still have the

right to vote, but I dispute this notion when gerrymandering manipulates a vote to be

inconsequential to the result. Disproportionate representation catalyzes oppression of

expression and oppression of minorities through strategic manipulation of regional boundaries.

Misrepresentation of people, culture, and identity are harmed when a majority is falsified as a

minority. This manipulation indirectly undermines the peoples vote and infringes on democratic

values. Politicians should not have the ability to draw regional borders for elections, and

consequentially a law needs to be put forth that criminalizes these actions. A new method of

regional bordering needs to be brought forward to decrease the present corruption and

increase the validity of the vote. Gerrymandering is a dishonest, strategical method that

negatively challenges the integrity of the political system, the people, and democracy.