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Can someone explain to me how this works? And I guess how/why it came to be?
From what I've read, it seems like each party can set the electoral boundaries, and of course does so in their own favour. Is that right?
In Canada we have an impartial elections organization that sets the boundaries and reviews on a regular basis, so the party in power has no say over what they are. Which to me seems like a much better way of doing it.
Thanks!
Look up the meaning…the person for which “gerrymandering” was named…it explains it pretty damn well.
Great post, great question…oh, and, don’t go believing that your “impartial organizations” are actually impartial.
from what i have understood, is that every 10 years or so, districts are re-evaluated due to demographics shifting one way or another. so, for instance, it might take one group 68% of the vote to get 50% representation, so maps are redrawn to level the field.
again, just my understanding
Good point…
It’s implied…that this takes place due to changes brought about by a census.
Historically that's how it was done. This recent push for mid-decade redistricting is one of the fun new political games they've decided to introduce.
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Both sides do it, but it is crazy how some of the districts are configured.
I think it was Wisconsin that had one Dem district just running a thin line on both sides of a major freeway all the way down the state. Most of the lower income people live near the freeway in the high density housing, whereas most of the suburban people away from the freeway were more affluent.
Some of the district maps are so blatantly Gerrymandering it is almost laughable, to see how specific neighborhoods are included but then exclude an area adjacent with a different demographic. Completely non-sensical boundaries other than to target a specific voter segment.
But it has become a game of they did it first, that has been going on for decades. They just don't even try to hide it anymore.
Redistricting is the representatives choosing who they want to represent instead of the people choosing who represents them.
As far as I know, the census triggers re apportionment where the federal govt re distributes the 435 house members by state according to their population. Redistricting is a state thing and has been highly politicized for a long time.
Yup, & If you look at the history…they (states) also seemed to jump on the issue after a census.
States that gain or lose seats pretty much have to redistrict. Other states can stand pat if they want but many can redistrict whenever they want. Each state has it's own rules.
If they also had a rule something like, a district can have no more than 5 straight lines (and no arcs) in the interior or 3 straight lines (and no arcs) if you're on a border of the state, to define the perimeter of the district. That might help.
"They just don't even try to hide it anymore"
I didn't realize they ever tried to hide it, I thought it was an accepted/normal part of US politics.
Good call, Wikipedia was an interesting read about it.
I guess clarifying my question, rather than about gerrymandering itself, I don't understand why the parties would even be involved in the redistricting process? Was it just not addressed in the constitution?
It's an individual state thing. The founders thought some things were better off left to the states to decide.
You could add to this limiting the number of districts a county is split into and the number of county splits per district.
The Virginia courts have put the brakes on this.
Temporarily at least.
Much like annexation.
City sees an unincorporated area, growing, and making money and...
Just like that you're suddenly back in the city you deliberately moved out of, and paying their taxes again.
Preach, brother.
I used to be surrounded by pastures and woods, now I'm in the thick of it, too tired to start the process over.
I wonder if you can preemptively add something to your grant deed that the property can never be part of an HOA?
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I thought the avg IQ in Virginia was relatively high but yesterday proved me wrong.
I have a few. It's a matter of how far away they are when I decide to use them.
You should check out the map for Illinois on this subject. It is insane how much our useless state politicians fight against gerrymandering but do it often. 😒
The Wisconsin example could benefit conservatives close to urban areas, as the number of D voters would overwhelm Rs in every election. But I don’t know the facts and am simply postulating.
There's one way to hit back on this gerrymandering and that's to GO VOTE in the midterms. Democrats are pushing a lot of their districts into swing status in order to gain more of them. This opens up the opportunity to FLIP previously blue districts red, if Republicans get a decent turnout.
The SAVE America act is also crucial. Many of these gerrymandered districts rely on non-citizen voting to hold their advantage.
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