Carrie Meek: “the founders of this Nation in the Constitution provided that the Districts composing the House of Representatives shall…”

“the founders of this Nation in the Constitution provided that the Districts composing the House of Representatives shall be redrawn at least after every decennial census. This provision was based upon their observation of the British system at the time. The British system provided for no systematic redrawing of parliamentary districts. Thus districts were controlled by the nobility. The urban areas were effectively disenfranchised. The term ``rotten borough'' is of British derivation. This was a parliamentary district of few people controlled by the local lord. The founders rejected the British system, but provided for Congress to pass laws governing the process subject to the dictates of the Constitution. When the States, over time, reverted to the British practice of vastly unequal population, the Supreme Court properly stepped in with the decision of Baker versus Carr and subsequent elaborations. This was appropriate and consistent. The practice of drawing Districts for the House of Representatives by the States has been left with great discretion within limited parameters. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to correct years of abuses through the disenfranchisement of classes of citizens of the United States.”