Following Louisiana’s controversial attempts at gerrymandering one majority black district under the pretense of partisanship, there is the clear fact that if racial gerrymandering is considered a constitutional violation, how is it that partisan gerrymandering isn’t given the same scrutiny?

The short answer is both Democrats and Republicans are complicit in using partisan gerrymandering with the express purpose to establish full dominance within that state itself. Governors no longer need to be bipartisan in order to get votes from both political spectrums, simply needing to downsize opposing districts while enlarging supporting districts, thus achieving more seats in the house of representatives.

But how partisan gerrymandering is done is by redistricting maps in order to favor a specific political party. This can be shown by the abnormally large sized districts or for the minority party a much smaller district with less representatives due to a smaller population. Which is intentionally done as smaller districts mean less representatives and less political power.

Racial gerrymandering on the other hand is nearly the same thing with the only difference being the erasure of specific minority groups’ voting power based on party alignments. Usually by grouping these populations into as few districts as possible in order to weaken voter output. Alternatively, certain states can also split these minority districts and group these populations into an opposing party’s district.

Because of this, partisan gerrymandering can and has led to racial gerrymandering as well. Parties will justify this by protecting their incumbents in office, but in doing so will shrink down or even erase entire minority groups’ representation. No matter how many different labels and justifications are given for gerrymandering, at its core, it will always be designed to suppress the minority.

By making partisan gerrymandering illegal, Americans can be properly represented by their elected officials, which can challenge the exaggerated political power certain states have on their districts. But until this issue is resolved, Americans’ representation is put at risk everyday by different parties hoping to cling onto power.