Former President Barack Obama has teamed up with a Democratic redistricting group in a new video, Politico reports.
Obama begins the video, which was released by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee on Wednesday, by saying how "inspiring" the first-time candidates and voter registration drives have been.
"That’s all vital to protecting this democracy of ours," he says. "So is something else — and that’s rethinking the way we draw our congressional districts."
According to Politico, the NDRC has outlined specific targets in state legislature races this November in preparation for the 2020 census.
“We have lifted up and done the analysis of competitiveness, and now we can work within that landscape of competitiveness," said Kelly Ward, the group’s executive director.
In the video, Obama decries gerrymandering, saying it "moves our debates away from the rational, reasonable middle, where most Americans are, to the extremes. And that makes common-sense policies that most Americans support less likely."
He adds that this upcoming election is the best chance to avert repeating the last 10 years of "Republican-controlled legislatures all across the country locked in structural advantages that would eventually determine every future election. Of course, that’s good for special interests who want to protect tax breaks for the most powerful or the gun lobby or environmental polluters, but it’s not good for our children."
The video shows a graphic stating that although Democrats won more than 50 percent of the vote in House races across the nation, they won fewer than 50 percent of the seats.
"Today, technology lets the party in power precision-draw the map to pack the other party’s supporters into as few districts as possible. It’s why your district might be shaped like a corkscrew," Obama says. "But it’s also how a party gains more seats, while winning fewer votes. Which isn’t fair."
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