Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency giving favor to one party or class. The term is named after Elbridge Gerry, who as Governor of Massachusetts in 1812 signed a bill that created a contorted-shaped partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological …
Tag: gerrymandering
Aug 28 2018
2018 Midterm Election: North Carolina Edition
Oops they did it again. A panel of three federal judge ruled that districts in North Carolina were unconstitutionally gerrymandered and must be redrawn before the November midterm elections just 70 days away. In 2016, the federal court ruled that the 2011 legislative map was racially gerrymandered. The Republican dominated legislature passed a plan that …
May 09 2018
2018 Election Results: Gerrymandering Takes a Hit in Ohio
As we reported in Tuesday night primary election coverage, Ohio voters were deciding a ballot measure, Issue 1, that would overhaul Ohio’s congressional redistricting process. The proposed amendment to the state constitution would require districts to be compact, limit the number of counties split between districts and give the minority party more leverage in passing …
Mar 15 2018
2018 Elections: PA – 18 Goes Blue
In Pennsylvania congressional district that was so strongly Republicans in 2016, Democrats didn’t even bother to field a candidate. PA-18 went for Donald Trump 20 points over Hillary Clinton and incumbent Representative Tim Murphy (R) ran unopposed. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the district R+11 due to partisan gerrymandering. Then Murphy had to resign …
Nov 23 2009
Action Alert: Building a path to the end of gerrymandering
The disgusting act of gerrymandering is when partisan interests take control of the redistricting process, which is when congressional and legislative districts are redrawn and is usually conducted by state legislatures after the census, and use it to benefit incumbents and specific parties.
But there is good news. There is a growing movement to end gerrymandering. In 2008, Californians passed Prop 11, which moved the responsibility of redistricting from the legislature to a nonpartisan committee. Now, a group in Florida is trying to put an end to gerrymandering through another ballot initiative, and they need your help today more than ever, no matter where you live in the country.
UPDATE: Here’s a quick summary of what I’m talking about:
1. Gerrymandering is awful and needs to be stopped
2. FairDistrictsFlorida.org, a grassroots organization, is working to stop it by putting an initiative on the Florida ballot
3. They’re asking for donations from Florida and across the country to pay for a processing fee of over $140,000 for their petitions
This is a repost from a few months ago. I am reposting it because this organization needs to raise $25,000 in order to pay for the initiative to be qualified. If they don’t do this, gerrymandering will most assuredly continue in Florida.
Sep 09 2009
Action Alert: Building a path to the end of gerrymandering
Our representatives are selecting their voters, as opposed to the voters selecting the representatives. This is a situation that I think the American people should not accept.
–Barack Obama, 2/8/06
The disgusting act of gerrymandering is when partisan interests take control of the redistricting process, which is when congressional and legislative districts are redrawn and is usually conducted by state legislatures after the census, and use it to benefit incumbents and specific parties. This is one of the more corrupt practices in state government – if you can believe that! – and is one of the more destructive forces on our republic today.
But there is good news. There is a growing movement to end gerrymandering. In 2008, Californians passed Prop 11, which moved the responsibility of redistricting from the legislature (who, like many other state legislatures, drew their own districts to their own advantage) to a nonpartisan committee. Now, a group in Florida is trying to put an end to gerrymandering through yet another ballot initiative, and they need your help today more than ever, no matter where you live in the country.