Politico: Supreme Court eyes partisan gerrymandering

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Expert

The Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with a case that has the potential to halt or even reverse an increasingly common phenomenon of American political life: Republicans' ability to tilt the political playing field in their favor through the tedious task of redrawing district lines.

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"Gerrymanders now are not your fathers' gerrymanders," warned Paul Smith, the lawyer for Democrats challenging the Wisconsin plan. He said data-crunching is now so sophisticated that there could be virtually no competition in U.S. elections in much of the country after 2020, if the high court doesn't impose restraints.

"These are going to be really serious incursions on democracy if this Court doesn't do something. And this is really the last opportunity before we see this huge festival of new extreme gerrymanders all done along the model of Wisconsin, but probably even more serious.," Smith declared. "If you don't do it, it is locked up."

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