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8 

RUCHO v. COMMON CAUSE 

Opinion of the Court 

B 
Partisan  gerrymandering  is  nothing  new.    Nor  is  frus-
tration  with  it.    The  practice  was  known  in  the  Colonies 
prior  to  Independence,  and  the  Framers  were  familiar 
with  it  at  the  time  of  the  drafting  and  ratification  of  the 
Constitution.  See Vieth, 541 U. S., at 274 (plurality opin-
ion).  During the very first congressional elections, George 
Washington  and  his  Federalist  allies  accused  Patrick 
Henry of trying to gerrymander Virginia’s districts against
their  candidates—in  particular  James  Madison,  who
ultimately  prevailed  over  fellow  future  President  James
Monroe.  Hunter,  The  First  Gerrymander?  9  Early  Am. 
Studies  792–794,  811  (2011).  See  5  Writings  of  Thomas
Jefferson 71 (P. Ford ed. 1895) (Letter to W. Short (Feb. 9,
1789)) (“Henry has so modelled the districts for represent-
atives  as  to  tack  Orange  [county]  to  counties  where  he 
himself  has  great  influence  that  Madison  may  not  be
elected into the lower federal house”).

In  1812,  Governor  of  Massachusetts  and  future  Vice 
President  Elbridge  Gerry  notoriously  approved  congres-
sional  districts  that  the  legislature  had  drawn  to  aid  the 
Democratic-Republican  Party.    The  moniker  “gerryman-
der”  was  born  when  an  outraged  Federalist  newspaper
observed  that  one  of  the  misshapen  districts  resembled  a 
salamander.  See  Vieth,  541  U. S.,  at  274  (plurality  opin-
ion);  E.  Griffith,  The  Rise  and  Development of  the  Gerry-
mander  17–19  (1907).   “By  1840,  the  gerrymander  was  a
recognized  force  in  party  politics  and  was  generally  at-
tempted  in  all  legislation  enacted  for  the  formation  of 
election  districts. 
It  was  generally  conceded  that  each 
party would attempt to gain power which was not propor-
tionate to its numerical strength.”  Id., at 123. 

The  Framers  addressed  the  election  of  Representatives
to Congress in the Elections Clause.  Art. I, §4, cl. 1.  That 
provision  assigns  to  state  legislatures  the  power  to  pre-
scribe  the  “Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elec-