The Redistricting and Voter Suppression in a Post-Pandemic America

Abstract

The 2020 election was a referendum on many pressing issues of the time. COVID-19, climate change, and civil unrest propelled Americans to the voting booth in unprecedented numbers, shattering previous turnout records for both previous Vice President Joe Biden and the incumbent Donald Trump. Biden and the Democratic Party field won, but narrowly. With the Democratic Party ostensibly holding only a slim majority in the House and the Vice Presidency as a tiebreaker in a dead-locked Senate, there have been large cries of a “stolen election” and “rampant voter fraud.” This has prompted several states, usually with Republican majorities, to pass sweeping restrictions on voting. Using both historical and contemporary lenses, this paper investigates the causes, effects, and motivations to curb voting accessibility and redistricting with an emphasis on red and swing states in the aftermath of the 2020 election, as well as potential solutions to combat the push to further restrict voting rights.