Prominent Republicans Urge Supreme Court to End Gerrymandering<br />“Democrats rigged the maps in Illinois, Maryland and Rhode Island, while Republicans<br />did so in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.”<br />The Supreme Court, which has never struck down an election map as a political gerrymander, will consider a case challenging the voting districts<br />for Wisconsin’s State Assembly drawn after Republicans gained complete control of the state government for the first time in more than 40 years.<br />Its president, Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said he was “pleased,<br />but not surprised, to see many of America’s most accomplished Republican leaders urging the Supreme Court to rein in excessive partisan gerrymandering.”<br />“They know that elected officials’ legitimacy comes from being freely chosen by voters, not through seizing power from voters<br />to keep themselves in control,” added Mr. Potter, who was appointed to the commission in 1991 by President George Bush.<br />“In California, for instance, we did the redistricting reform<br />and the legislators have over 50 percent approval rating, and in Washington they have a 16 percent approval rating.”<br />Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, joined a brief filed by current<br />and former members of the House of Representatives urging the Supreme Court to reject the Wisconsin maps.
