Posted on Jun 7, 2019
Redistricting Guru's Hard Drives Could Mean Legal, Political Woes For GOP
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Once in a while information gets out about why people are really doing what they are doing. Look, I think we all knew that gerrymandering is a thing on both sides, but this really gets into how blatant and calculated it is.
A quote to think about, "An unpublished 2015 report, authored by Hofeller, concluded that adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census would produce data that would help redraw political maps "advantageous to Republican and Non-Hispanic Whites.""
That's probably going to hurt in court re this question. It's somewhat ironic that the guy who was so adamant that no one talk publicly or in a tractable way about why they are doing what they are doing so it couldn't be used in court or the court of public opinion, left all this evidence behind to be found after he died.
Taking left/right politics off the table, the idea of parties and officials choosing their voters should make us angry or at least very concerned. This is part of why we end up with people in Congress for life.
A quote to think about, "An unpublished 2015 report, authored by Hofeller, concluded that adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census would produce data that would help redraw political maps "advantageous to Republican and Non-Hispanic Whites.""
That's probably going to hurt in court re this question. It's somewhat ironic that the guy who was so adamant that no one talk publicly or in a tractable way about why they are doing what they are doing so it couldn't be used in court or the court of public opinion, left all this evidence behind to be found after he died.
Taking left/right politics off the table, the idea of parties and officials choosing their voters should make us angry or at least very concerned. This is part of why we end up with people in Congress for life.
Redistricting Guru's Hard Drives Could Mean Legal, Political Woes For GOP
Posted from npr.org
Elections
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Posted >1 y ago
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So much skullduggery that goes back a century or more here.
I think the best solution is to impose term limits on Congress.
I mean seriously. Every census we might have 5-10 seats of loss/ gain around the whole country, with never more than two in a given state. So with that little change, how hard is it really to redraw districts? Apparently real hard if you want demographic and population changes to not affect negatively the career politicians who are reliant on cronyism to get continuously reelected with minimal threats in primaries or general elections.
I think the best solution is to impose term limits on Congress.
I mean seriously. Every census we might have 5-10 seats of loss/ gain around the whole country, with never more than two in a given state. So with that little change, how hard is it really to redraw districts? Apparently real hard if you want demographic and population changes to not affect negatively the career politicians who are reliant on cronyism to get continuously reelected with minimal threats in primaries or general elections.
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SPC Kevin Ford
1SG (Join to see) You know I could, without too much effort, create a computer program that would draw districts that don't use any factors that would have to do with who a given voter is likely to vote for.
Having said that, such an algorithm could still inadvertently lead to partisan redistricting unless the goal of the algorithm is to lead to a proportional distribution of voters by party that matches the state distribution. However, to do that the algorithm would have to take likely party voting demographics into account.
Having said that, such an algorithm could still inadvertently lead to partisan redistricting unless the goal of the algorithm is to lead to a proportional distribution of voters by party that matches the state distribution. However, to do that the algorithm would have to take likely party voting demographics into account.
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1SG (Join to see)
SPC Kevin Ford - Computer programs are far too easy to tamper with. Better to have it out in the open, like most state Constitutions stipulate.
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SPC Kevin Ford
1SG (Join to see) - I'd probably argue that application source code that is kept in an open repository as well as the DevOps pipelines there are enough people who can audit it to ensure its integrity (by enough, I mean a sizable portion of the population). But I understand that for people for whom the source code and processes all look like Greek, it may be hard to give that trust.
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I have always been opposed to gerrymandering by either side. We even have it up here in Nowhere land (SD).
However, I don't know how to end it.
However, I don't know how to end it.
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1SG (Join to see)
I was thinking about how do you Gerrymander in a state with one Representative, and then I thought about it a little more and oh, yeah. State Legislature.
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SPC Kevin Ford
MSG Stan Hutchison Agree on all counts. The states that are trying to end it are doing so by taking the redistricting process out of the state legislatures and moving it to independent groups.
https://ivn.us/2016/10/10/state-by-state-efforts-to-reform-partisan-gerrymandering/
I suspect to really get rid of it for all states would take a ruling by the judicial branch. The state legislatures that are really using it in earnest won't vote to give it up themselves and not all states allow ballot initiatives.
https://ivn.us/2016/10/10/state-by-state-efforts-to-reform-partisan-gerrymandering/
I suspect to really get rid of it for all states would take a ruling by the judicial branch. The state legislatures that are really using it in earnest won't vote to give it up themselves and not all states allow ballot initiatives.
State-by-State Efforts to End Partisan Gerrymandering - IVN.us
Gerrymandering is the advantageous practice of drawing legislative districts to favor one party over another. There are different reforms among the states meant to reform this procedure and make for fairer elections.
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