Unconstitutional. Current and former lawmakers including former california governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke before the Supreme Court and also the plaintiff in the case spoke at the rally. When do we want it . No. Good morning and thank you for coming out to our rally. My name is joanne antoine, and i am the manager of outreach for common cause maryland. We are a nonpartisan Grassroots Organization dedicated to upholding the core values of our american democracy. We have over 30 state chapters and over a million members throughout the country. Common cause is just one of three groups that is hosting todays event, so please join me in giving a round of applause to represent us and center for American Progress. [applause] i also want to give a special thank you to all the groups who took different actions like filing amicus briefs and supporting the movement in a number of different ways. And also a special thank you to all of the volunteers who came out early and are helping out today. Now todays rally is personal. Again, i work with common cause maryland, and maryland is one of the two most gerrymandered states in the country. Its the worst nation its the worst in the nation for how we draw our congressional and district lines, and unfortunately, we cant rely on our elected officials to fix the system. So today its time for the Supreme Court to create ground rules that safeguard our fundamental right to vote and make sure that vote is counted. Today were going to be joined by a number of speakers who are going to highlight the importance of todays event, the work that their organizations have been doing in support of the movement and in support of this fair maps rally. So before we begin, i just want to make sure that if anyone here is tweeting or posting you use our hashtag fair maps and, of course, join us as we cant. Please join me in welcoming our first speaker, our president for Common Cause National chapter, karen [inaudible] [cheers and applause] its a challenge getting up here. Nice to be with a all of you. And i am proud to the stand here with many of our allies who are joined together the fight back against partisangerrymanderers. We are pleased to join the Campaign Legal center and the Brennan Center to lead an amicus brief in the case argued behind us in the Supreme Court this morning. It brought together state attorneys general, city attorneys, current and former members of congress, elected officials in state legislatures across the country from both parties as well as citizen organizations to talk about the manipulation of our elections for partisan advantage and the negative impact that has op our democracy. On our democracy. Every eligible american wants to have a voice and know that their vote counts in determining who is elected. And in the policies that are passed by congress and state legislatures that determine the future of our families and our communities. Politicians who manipulate the voting maps are placing their partys power above the peoples. They sow the seeds of cynicism and cause too Many Americans to tune out of our politics. Thats because it escalates polarization, that rewards political dysfunction and emboldens the extremes on both sides of the aisle. And it provides little to no incentive for the public to engage. We are here today to show the Supreme Court that the public does care about these issues. It may seem like wonky election issues, but it has a real impact on peoples lives. Voters recognize that highly gerrymandered legislatures are moving more extreme agendas driven by polarization and the safe seat that is gerrymandering creates. We have worked with colleagues like the league of conservation voters, the National Education association and the league of women voters in wisconsin to show that partisan gerrymandering in wisconsin results in the adoption of policies that are more partisan and extreme than residents in wisconsin. For example, in wisconsin there is a historic pride in clean government, and several years ago wisconsinites put in place an independent Government Accountability board. This board was set to oversee and enforce compliance with ethics, Campaign Finance and election laws. But the gerrymandered legislature dismantled the independent Government Accountability board. Why did they do that . They did it because they wanted a weaker partisan agency in control, because they didnt want anybody to be investigating their actions. There was an investigation that the Government Accountability board put in place that was scott walker and special interest money that were flowing in to recall elections. And they dont want accountability, and they dont want with enforcement of clean government rules. We also saw funding for k12 and public universities being very important to wisconsins citizens, huge proportion of democrats, republicans and independents support that. And what did the highly partisan legislature do . They slashed funding for those programs. We also see strong bipartisan support for conservation and environmental reforms. And what did the highly partisan, gerrymandered legislature do . They cut and slashed those programs. In North Carolina, another state where we see huge partisan gerrymander in place, we saw the Republican Legislature ban transgender bathrooms. More than 80 of the population supported having transgender bathrooms. But they didnt move. And then when we saw the nccaa, the nbas allstar game, concert venues and other businesses say we are not going to North Carolina, businesses suffered, and the state lost millions of dollars. Did the Republican Legislature act . No. Why . Theyre in safe districts. They dont care what the people think. We also saw North Carolina put in place a power grab in terms of a terrible vote voting measure that put discriminatory laws on the books including slashing early voting, discriminatory voter id in order to insure their partisan advantage. So the need for districts is not just a problem in red states. We heard from joanne, this is also a problem in blue states like maryland. And so thats why we have a bipartisan set of legislators, Arnold Schwarzenegger, u. S. Senator john mccain, Ohio Governor john kasich joining democrats like Sheldon Whitehouse in rhode island and Tammy Baldwin of wisconsin to support and end the partisan gerrymandering. The American People understand how politicians in both parties are stacking the deck against people. And as a result, we are seeing an unprecedented groundswell of support for the end to partisan gerrymandering. We are seeing reforms moving in states, and we are also seeing people gathering at events like this. In North Carolina today, leaders from common causes North Carolina hbcu student alliance, the historically black college and universities, are marching through the largest hbcu in North Carolina. North carolina a and t, the home of the aggies. And theyre marching on a street that literally divides the campus in two. On the left is the 13th Congressional District, and on the right is the 6th Congressional District. Why was that gerrymander put in place . Because it is 10,000 black students, and thats a powerful voting bloc. And so they divided them right down the center. And so we have these the impact of this cannot just be about policies, but also directly affect and assault on the rights of africanamerican students in North Carolina. The Supreme Court could end gerrymandering as we know it in this whitford case. Although the whitford case is before the Supreme Court and dealing specifically with state legislative districts in wisconsin, if the Court Affirms the Lower Court Ruling in wisconsin, it will be establishing the principle that partisan politicians and special interests can no longer are rig the system by manipulating voting maps. [applause] [laughter] the action from the Supreme Court could reduce costly litigation and also set a clear standard that headaches it clear to state that makes it clear to state legislatures as theyre drawing maps here is the line you cannot cross. In america no liberty is more fundamental than the right to freely choose our representatives through voting. When politicians manipulate the rules and choose their voters instead, it leads to dysfunction, and legislative bodies that do not care about their constituents. It is time to end this practice. Thank you very much. [applause] so were going to go into a few other p chants. This one is hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymandering has to go. Hey, hey,ho, ho, gerrymandering has to go. Hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymandering has to go. Were tired of your [inaudible] stop your gerrymandering. Were tired of your tampering, stop your gerrymandering. Were tired of your tampering, stop your gerrymandering. [cheers and applause] please join me in welcoming our next speaker, he is the representative from new yorks 3rd Congressional District. [cheers and applause] hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymanderings got to go hey, hey, h, ho, gerrymanderings got to go hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymanderings got to go. Im tom suozzi from new yorks 3rd Congressional District. The partisan divide in our countried today is mainly caused by partisan gerrymandering. Everybodys sick of politics, politicians, theyre sick of the fingerpointing and sick of people not getting things done. Why is it happening . In the house of representatives, in which im a member, there are about 435 seats of which 400 thank you. Theres 435 seats in the house of representatives in which 400 are safe seats which guaranteed if youre a republican, youre going to win reelection. In a republican seat. If youre in a democratic seat, guaranteed youre going to win reelection in the democratic seat. So you cant lose the general election. If you cant lose the general election, the only way you can lose is if you lose a primary. And very few people vote in a primary. So who votes in a primary . Less than 10 of the people vote in a primary. Theyre often to the more extremes of the party, the far left for the democrats, the far right for the republicans. If youre a congressperson who cant lose a general election and you just want to keep one wig of your party happy, youre going to try and please that wing of your party. The democrats are trying to please the left, the republicans try and plead please the right. If you try and do anything in the middle, youre going to get squashed like a bug. Youre going to lose your primary. Thats the problem right now. All these safe seats result in politicians not pandering to the people, not pandering to the general public, they pander to the base of their party. We must get rid of partisan gerrymandering in america. [cheers and applause] to force elected officials to be subject to the only thing that makes democracy works competition. People battling over ideas. I have a better idea than you do. I have a better way of doing it more effectively. I have a better way of doing it cheaper, helping more people. Ive got a better way of doing it. That competition only happens in competitive seats. In our country today, we do not have competitive seats. The reason we dont have competitive seats is because of partisan gerrymandering. This lawsuit today, this case being argued before the Supreme Court today, if the Supreme Court decides as we hope that they do that partisan gerrymandering is illegal, it will change the partisanship of this country. And it will force americans to Work Together with each other to try and get things done on behalf of the people they serve. I want to thank all the different groups that are up here today for putting so much time. Its a long journal think to get from journey to get from where this all started in wisconsin to this lawsuit today with all these people organized like this. Dont underestimate how powerful you are by bringing this to the publics attention. Please continue to try and educate people why partisan gerrymandering is destroying our country and making it overly partisan. Together we can make a difference here. But now we need the Supreme Court to help us. Hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymandering has got to go. Hey, hey, ho, ho, gerrymanderings got to go. Thank you, everybody. [cheers and applause] hey, hey, ho gerrymanderings got to go. Hey, hey, ho, ho, jerry gerrymanderings got to go. When politicians choose, the voters always lose. When politicians choose, the voters always lose. When politicians choose, the voters always lose. Please join me in welcoming former congressman jolly representing issue one. [applause] hey, howd that last one go . Since everybodys chanting . [inaudible] when politicians choose the voters always lose. Hey, folks, is this a great day or what . [cheers and applause] listen, im proud to stand here with a lot of organizations that are committed to ending political gerrymandering, but i have a confession for everybody this morning right now. Im a republican. [laughter] listen [laughter] thank you. Folks, i had the opportunity to serve in the house of representatives representing one of the most competitive Congressional Districts in the country. It was truly 50 50. I was elected twice as a republican in a district that barack obama had also won twice, and i stand here today and i will tell you if you want to fix gridlock, if you want to end any conversation of term limits, all we need are competitive districts. Electorally competitive districts would force congress to find a way to Work Together. My time up there i saw three major challenges. The first being political gerrymandering, the second being closed primaries, the third being Campaign Finance reform. The court today has an opportunity to address the very first one which is political gerrymandering. At the end of the day, the court has already said they have jurisdiction. They did that in the arizona case. Now its time for the court to recognize that there are limits they can put on political gerrymandering. It is what madison asked for in federalist ten when he said the point and purpose of the house is to End Excessive factions. We are governed today in a congress that is defined by excessive factions. We know it. And the people who lose are all of us. The people who lose are those who are asking for common sense policies to address the concerns of the American People. And i want to say this as well, you know, we often approach this issue as though its punishment for elected officials or punishment for candidates or punishment for Political Parties. Folks, this is not punishment. This is opportunity. Both parties will be made stronger if this court ends political gerrymandering. Candidates will be stronger [applause] candidates will be strong arer be this court ends political gerrymandering, because candidates will have to speak not only to their partisan interests, not only to their base, but also to that third of noparty affiliates and independents who are largely disenfranchised by the major parties. Also to voters on other parties who wish to perhaps come over, support a candidate, both parties, all candidates would be made stronger. I saw a living example of this, and its never more prescient than it is today. We are coming off a terrible disaster in nevada, we know it, its a national tragedy. We also know that congress isnt going to do a single thing about it. No, they wont. No, they wont. Boo and theyre not. Theyre not. Because of how Congressional Districts are currently controlled. I represented a district in florida not far from the pulse nightclub, and i came up here last year while the democrats were having their sitins, and as a republican, i brokered a nofly, nobuy bill. I believe we had the votes for it. It was such common sense legislation, a cnn anchor in the morning said that makes too much sense. Why wont it pass . Ill tell you exactly why it wont pass. A bunch of younger, more centrist members reached a compromise on nofly, nobuy with. My side of the aisle said not a chance because of our base and because of the special interest money. But to be fair, the other side of the aisle said, not a chance. Were not working with jolly because jolly just got redrawn into a d plus 6 district, and it is ours in november. That is the breakdown of partisan gerrymandering in the house. When a nation cries out for solutions, this body does nothing. This court can change that. This court can fix that. Folks, the bottom line is there is absolutely zero conviction for bipartisanship in most of the districts that are supermajority districts. There is no reward for it. At the end of the day, you represent your party, you represent the primary voters which constitute a minority is a minority. And so we, the people, are not govern by general election voters. We are govern by primary voters. This court has an opportunity in this case to say, yes, we are going to accept jurisdiction to protect democracy. And, yes, we are going to say there is a standard to limit political gerrymandering. Lets get it done, folks. Is this a great day or wha