Schwarzenegger: Gerrymandering ‘one of the biggest scams’ pulled on the American people

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday warned against the threat gerrymandering poses to democracy, calling it “one of the biggest scams politicians have ever pulled on the American people.”

“Gerrymandering isn’t a political issue. It is a power issue. Republicans who have power gerrymander. Democrats who have power gerrymander,” Schwarzenegger wrote on his Facebook page. 

Schwarzenegger argued that redistricting congressional maps would help in “draining the swamp” by making it more difficult for the same politicians to repeatedly win reelection.

In pushing for a solution to gerrymandering, Schwarzenegger pointed to California’s initiative in 2011 to have an independent panel redraw the sate’s congressional map.

He said he’s hopeful the Supreme Court’s rulings on two gerrymandering cases it has agreed to hear will help address the issue in other states.

“It’s time to give the power back to the people,” he wrote.

Schwarzenegger’s comments come amid a fight between Pennsylvania state Republicans and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which ordered last month that the state’s congressional map must be redrawn. 

The court ruled that the state’s map had been gerrymandered to favor Republicans to the point that it was unconstitutional. The governor must approve a new map by Feb. 15 to be used in this year’s midterms.

Republicans have balked at the court ruling, and state Rep. Cris Dush (R) called for the justices on the state Supreme Court to be impeached.