United States of America - August 2025

On 29 August, the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, signed a new gerrymandered map of the state’s U.S. House of Representatives districts into law. Responding to a demand from President Donald Trump, the redistricting openly aims to create more U.S. House districts dominated by Republican voters and is expected to result in a gain of five House seats for the Republicans. In response, California lawmakers passed bills that would improve the Democratic Party’s performance by five seats in the U.S. House; these will be voted on by Californians in November. In September, a Republican-majority legislature in Missouri followed suit, as governors of heavily Democratic and Republican states further announcing similar measures. Critics have noted that gerrymandering dilutes the power of individual voters, both by packing voters of colour into fewer districts and reducing the competitiveness of some districts.   

Sources: BBC, New York Times, NPR, CNN, The Guardian