You can count on New Jersey to raise the bar in corrupt politics. This week, Democrats there have crafted a scheme to strengthen their already solid grip on power. They are writing gerrymandering into the state’s constitution. To pass their blatantly undemocratic move, they’re using every trick they can to circumvent opposition.

The current method of drawing districts in New Jersey isn’t perfect, but it’s straightforward enough. Each party chairman picks five people to sit on a redistricting commission. Typically, each party submits a map, and an independent arbitrator, picked by the New Jersey Supreme Court, decides which map most closely matches the state’s constitutional mandate that districts be compact and contiguous and don’t give partisan advantage.