Tag: Grassroots

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.

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.

That’s right, I’m a candidate’s wife, it happened rather quickly too.  Well, I’ve been married to the guy for almost ten years, but the candidate part has unfolded in just a few days.

Now, why am I not the candidate?  Oh, it’s a long story and I’ve not been as good of a Democrat as my husband has been, really.  I am still registered as Decline to State.  Yes, how is that for a confession?  But Gary, my husband, has been registered as a Democrat for many years and he unabashedly calls himself a party loyalist.

So how did this come about?  Let me tell you…