This Week in Gerrymandering

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

It is time for the popular vote in the US. Nothing else makes sense. The electoral college has been twisted and abused beyond any recognition.

The midwest is a shithole, and fuck the dumbass inbred hicks who live there. Fuck em all.

Electoral College, Senate, superdelegates, gerrymandering should all be thrown down the zhitter, unless you want to openly admit you live in an oligarchy.

 

[Trotsky]

It is time for the popular vote in the US. Nothing else makes sense. The electoral college has been twisted and abused beyond any recognition.

The midwest is a shithole, and fuck the dumbass inbred hicks who live there. Fuck em all.

Where did the Midwest come in?

Anyways, rural people are overpowered in the federal government through both the electoral college and the Senate.

I am personally of the persuasion that we keep the electoral college and completely rehaul the formation of Congress. Make the Senate popularly representative and make the House proportionally representative.

 

[FacePunch]

Where did the Midwest come in?

Because of your next sentence - that's who always cries disenfranchisement when talks of popular vote vs electoral college pop up.

 

[ProBoxingInsidr]

Fair enough. They should just use the district lines that actually exist: counties.

My point still stands though.

so true. i would much rather the fine people of the bay area having a much bigger influence on what goes on here than some normal people from kansas

 

[FacePunch]

so true. i would much rather the fine people of the bay area having a much bigger influence on what goes on here than some normal people from kansas

People from Kansas aren't normal. They're inbred. Kansas is a shithole.

 

[7437]

so true. i would much rather the fine people of the bay area having a much bigger influence on what goes on here than some normal people from kansas

They should, San Francisco's economy is 4 times that of Kansas. And there are alot more people.

 

[Trotsky]

Because of your next sentence - that's who always cries disenfranchisement when talks of popular vote vs electoral college pop up.

That's not really the Midwest, though. That's the West/Mountain West. The Midwest is at its core Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, and Michigan.

Some put Nebraska and Kansas in there, but I think those states along with the Dakotas are more easily grouped (demographically and politically) as the West with Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.

 

[FacePunch]

That's not really the Midwest, though. That's the West/Mountain West. The Midwest is at its core Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, and Michigan.

Some put Nebraska and Kansas in there, but I think those states along with the Dakotas are more easily grouped (demographically and politically) as the West with Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.

To me, everything east of Wyoming is midwest until you hit the east coast.

LOL. Nebraska and Kansas are absolutely not the west.

 

[zebby23]

Good. This needs to be everywhere. Only the most unamerican pieces of shit favor gerrymandering.

Well that would be the Republicans lol

 

[ChainFlow]

http://www.dispatch.com/news/201802...-on-new-ohio-congressional-redistricting-plan

Republicans, Democrats and a coalition of redistricting-reform advocates reached a deal to put a proposal on the May ballot aimed at curtailing partisan gerrymandering of Ohio’s congressional map.

After weekend negotiations that capped off about two weeks of heavy talks, the Senate on Monday night voted 31-0 for the compromise plan. The House is likely to approve it Tuesday, one day ahead of the Feb. 7 deadline to qualify the issue for the May statewide ballot.

The current redistricting process requires no minority-party support and has almost no rules, other than requirements regarding district population and prohibiting conflict with the federal Voting Rights Act. The new proposal would initially require 50 percent of the minority party in each chamber to approve a map for 10 years. It also would limit how often counties can be split into multiple congressional seats, and it would require public hearings and the ability for the public to submit maps.

Under that plan, 65 counties cannot be divided, 18 can be divided once and five can be divided twice into three congressional districts. Currently, many counties are split, while Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Democrat-rich northeast Ohio are split into four districts as Republicans sliced them up for partisan advantage.

“Far fewer counties can be divided under this map,” said Sen. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, a leader in crafting the plan.

If the legislature is unable to come to a bipartisan agreement, the process would be handed to a seven-member commission consisting of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and four lawmakers, where a 10-year map would require at least two minority-party votes.

If that fails, the process goes back to the legislature, where it would require a three-fifths vote in each chamber, including one-third of each minority caucus, to pass a 10-year map.

If there’s still no deal, the majority can draw a four-year map on its own, but it would be under stricter criteria, including prohibitions against several acts — “unduly” splitting counties and other jurisdictions, drawing a district that favors or disfavors a party, or drawing districts to favor incumbents. That process also would require the majority to formally justify why it decided to draw each district, which advocates say would hold them accountable to the courts and the public.

Under the current map, drawn by Republicans in 2011, the GOP has held a firm grip on 12 of 16 congressional seats. The districts are heavily gerrymandered, largely noncompetitive, and are meant to ensure Republicans control the bulk of the Ohio delegation.

Looks like the Ohio Republicans are scared. Speculation is that they’re worried Trump is so unpopular that they’re going to lose control of the state legislature and governor, and they want to prevent a gerrymandering reprisal. Slightly less cynical interpretation is that they see the writing on the wall with the SCOTUS and popular opinion and they (after repeatedly defeating previous identical measures) now want to claim credit for finally reversing course and pretending they were in favor of fair representation all along.

 

[Hit-N-Run]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/us/pennsylvania-maps-congress.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...nconstitutionally-gerrymandered-idUSKBN1FB2N8

"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday threw out the state’s congressional map as unconstitutionally gerrymandered and gave lawmakers until Feb. 9 to redraw the boundaries, a decision that will have major ramifications for the 2018 midterm elections."


Pennsylvania has 18 congressional seats. Despite near-even voting patterns, Republicans have held a large majority since the 2010 redistricting (supermajority from 2012 on).

north carolina thread:
http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/north-carolina-a-voting-rights-hellhole.3689641/#post-137446625

Both political parties have a history of Gerrymandering but Republicans have taken it to a WHOLE new level. Completely against the ideas of democracy. They don't want free and fare elections. They want Authoritarianism. What they have done in North Carolina is criminal.

 

[Quipling]

http://www.dispatch.com/news/201802...-on-new-ohio-congressional-redistricting-plan

Looks like the Ohio Republicans are scared. Speculation is that they’re worried Trump is so unpopular that they’re going to lose control of the state legislature and governor, and they want to prevent a gerrymandering reprisal. Slightly less cynical interpretation is that they see the writing on the wall with the SCOTUS and popular opinion and they (after repeatedly defeating previous identical measures) now want to claim credit for finally reversing course and pretending they were in favor of fair representation all along.

Don't care about their motivations if it gets the shit fixed.

Not a perfect proposal but it's an improvement.

 

[ChainFlow]

Don't care about their motivations if it gets the shit fixed.

Not a perfect proposal but it's an improvement.

It still has to pass referendum in May, so we’ll see. But it’s a good sign.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

To me, everything east of Wyoming is midwest until you hit the east coast.

LOL. Nebraska and Kansas are absolutely not the west.

No one wants to claim Nebraska or Kansas lol

 

[FacePunch]

No one wants to claim Nebraska or Kansas lol

Shithole states.

 

[luckyshot]

I don't want to derail, but in my state (and many others) Dems gerrymandered districts when they had the power. When the GOP got control they did the same - it seems the real issue is that the GOP did a better job of it...

It was largely a timing issue. Use of computer algorithms to analyze voter patterns has put gerrymandering on steroids.

 

[HomerThompson]

(Reuters) - A panel of federal judges in Pennsylvania on Monday refused to block the state’s new congressional district map from taking effect, rejecting Republican arguments that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overstepped its authority in issuing new voting lines in February.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...nia-congressional-redistricting-idUSKBN1GV2BZ

Excellent news.

 

[Ruprecht]

I don't want to derail, but in my state (and many others) Dems gerrymandered districts when they had the power. When the GOP got control they did the same - it seems the real issue is that the GOP did a better job of it...


Edit: to expound on the subject:
In 1991, the General Assembly [VA] was still controlled by the Democrats. They created a redistricting map to extend that control by placing 18 House Republicans into nine districts

The post-1990 Census redistricting cycle revised the boundaries of the Third District for US House of Representatives to establish a "majority-minority" district, one where black voters were concentrated and likely to elect their preferred candidate.

What is the US legislation on gerrymandering (state or federal)?
In my state (South Australia) if the winner of the majority vote doesn't form government, then the state electoral commission is obliged to redraw the electorates in such a way that the majority vote would have resulted in a win. That's precisely what happened with our vote this past weekend in fact, resulting in a change of state government after nearly 20 years.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Where did the Midwest come in?

Anyways, rural people are overpowered in the federal government through both the electoral college and the Senate.

I am personally of the persuasion that we keep the electoral college and completely rehaul the formation of Congress. Make the Senate popularly representative and make the House proportionally representative.

Yeah the senate seems to be a bit off


North and South Dakota (2 full states) have less people than Just Manhattan alone.

Yet they have more senate seats. Rural America is so overrepresented in politics it isn’t even funny

 

[PainIsLIfe]

What is the US legislation on gerrymandering (state or federal)?
In my state (South Australia) if the winner of the majority vote doesn't form government, then the state electoral commission is obliged to redraw the electorates in such a way that the majority vote would have resulted in a win. That's precisely what happened with our vote this past weekend in fact, resulting in a change of state government after nearly 20 years.

Yeah, you guys are a bit odd with the whole "form" a govt. In the US all the winners go to office and all sides are expected to work together (or used to be) to get things done.

Each state has it's own rules to drawing voting districts - usually with input of the census - but generally it's up to each state legislature to draw boundaries within it's state.

The only rule that I'm aware of is that they aren't supposed to use race to determine boundaries, but it's been done by both sides for various reasons.

If you're really interested this link will give state by state guidlines:
http://redistricting.lls.edu/who.php



As for my state:

Like all states, Virginia must comply with constitutional equal population requirements, and further requires districts to be populated equally, as nearly as is practicable. In 2011, legislative redistricting committees adopted guidelines further requiring state Senate districts to deviate no more than 2% from the average population and state House districts to deviate no more than 1% from the average; these guidelines may be changed at any time. [Sen. Comm. on Privileges & Elections, Comm. Res. No. 1; H. Comm. on Privileges & Elections, Comm. Res. No. 1]


Virginia must also, like all states, abide by section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Furthermore, because Virginia is considered a "covered jurisdiction" under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, it has an obligation to submit redistricting plans to the Department of Justice or to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to ensure that the plans do not discriminate against minority communities.


Beyond those requirements, the Virginia Constitution demands that congressional and state legislative districts be contiguous and compact. [Va. Const. art. II, § 6; Jamerson v. Womack, 423 S.E.2d 180 (Va. 1992)]


In 2011, legislative redistricting committees adopted guidelines further asserting that districts would be based on "legislative consideration of the varied factors that can create or contribute to communities of interest," including "economic factors, social factors, cultural factors, geographic features, governmental jurisdictions and service delivery areas, political beliefs, voting trends, and incumbency considerations." [Sen. Comm. on Privileges & Elections, Comm. Res. No. 1, Comm. Res. No. 2; H. Comm. on Privileges & Elections, Comm. Res. No. 1]

The Governor set forth somewhat different criteria for his advisory commission. His charge asks that, in addition to equally populated districts that are contiguous and compact, all districts respect political subdivision lines to the extent practicable, including dividing as few counties and cities as practicable. The charge also asks that districts preserve communities of interest to the extent possible. [Exec. Order No. 31 (2011)]​