Thread by @SabineResists

On Monday night the Commerce Dept, with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that:

In Keeping with the request from the Justice Dept, that they will be adding a citizenship question to the #2020Census questionnaire.

How might this effect Voting Rights?
<Thread> 1/9

The citizenship question has not been included in a decennial Census since 1950.

Courts have long mandated that US House districts be drawn based on total population, assuring all populations would be fairly represented whether they voted or not.
amp.nymag.com/daily/intellig…
2/9

But in 2016, the Supreme Court left open the option for states to draw districts based only on eligible voter populations.

In comes the tRump Admin, advocating for the inclusion of the citizenship question on the Census form!
3/9

The citizenship question may deter some population groups from responding to the Census questionnaire, therefore not being counted in total population.

This would skew population counts away from democratic leaning city centers and favor more rural republican areas.
4/9

This population change would not only draw resources away from city centers that need more spending for roads and services, but more importantly it allows states to draw district maps based on eligible voters only.
#Gerrymandering

amp.nymag.com/daily/intellig…
5/9

This new “eligible voters only” map would allow the GOP to maintain their hold on Congress, for many years to come, as these new maps would be drawn by heavy republican state legislatures.
6/9

These new maps would lead to underrepresented voter and non voter populations:

#VoterSuppression

The minority ruling the majority situation, kind of like what we have right now in our country, but possibly worse.
7/9

But alas, NY AG Eric Schneiderman along with 18 other State AG’s announced they will Sue the Federal Government on the Constitutionality of the citizenship question.

“A Fair and Accurate Count of all People in America is... one of Our Most solemn Constitutional Obligations”
8/9

Source for 8/9:

politico.com/states/new-yor…

9/End