Gerrymandering

Comparison. This needs to happen in every state, whether it benefits Democrats or Republicans. The Supreme Court needs to rule the right way on this.

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They have no recourse. They've already challenged the overturning of their own map to their Supreme Court & lost. They failed to implement a better map, so the Supreme Court stepped in and did it for them.

We'll have to see if they actually follow through on their threat to try to impeach liberals on the Pennsylvania SC. Could you imagine?

 
If you can't beat 'em, gerrymander.

If you can't get your State Supreme Court to uphold your gerrymander, move to impeach all the Democratic judges.

 




Will probably work, unless Pennsylvania's situation is drastically different from North Carolina's.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-election/supreme-court-blocks-redrawing-of-north-carolina-congressional-maps-idUSKBN1F73C1

I'm starting to wonder if the supreme court is delaying the gerrymandering ruling until Kennedy or Ginsberg die/retire.

No idea what this site is but it has a good summary:

https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/state-redistricting-litigation

Wisconsin filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on February 24, 2017, and the Court heard oral arguments in the case on October 3. The Court also granted the state’s request to stay the remedial map-drawing process while it considers the case.
 

The Court’s decision in the case is expected to be announced before the end of June.
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So the justices need to stay alive/on the job for 4 more months.

Maryland:
 

On December 8, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal. Oral argument at the Supreme Court is scheduled to take place on March 28.
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With polls getting tighter, this issue becomes even more relevant as stated in the article.

https://www.axios.com/polls-show-democrats-edge-over-gop-slides-ahead-of-midterm-elections-a2f7ab97-8918-4541-ac21-c3eea80da02c.html?utm_source=sidebar

T
hree recent polls — conducted by CNN/SSRS, Quinnipiac University and Fox News —have shown Democrats losing their double-digit edge in generic congressional polling over the GOP. In two of the polls, Democrats experienced a double-digit drop in their lead from earlier polling.

Why it matters: There has been a lot of buzz about a blue wave that allows Democrats to retake the House in 2018, but these polls should give the left some pause. That's because Democrats will need to over-perform against a generic ballot to score big gains in the House since — as Nate Cohn at the NYT notes in a worthy read — gerrymandered congressional districts give the GOP a clear electoral edge heading into the fall.
 

By the numbers:


CNN/SSRS:


Quinnipiac University:

  • March 21: Democrats +6 — 49% to 43% for both the House and Senate.
  • December 5, 2017: Democrats +14 — 50% to 36% for the House and 51% to 37% for the Senate.

Fox News:

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There should be some computer algorithm to set districts and eliminate the human component entirely.  Start at four different points of the state, group counties until the population desired is met and continue on to the next district.  The districts are the average of the four maps.

 
huKSer said:
There should be some computer algorithm to set districts and eliminate the human component entirely.  Start at four different points of the state, group counties until the population desired is met and continue on to the next district.  The districts are the average of the four maps.
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It's been done already and it's not that difficult. But there are quotes from some SC justices showing complete ignorance about math and statistics.

 
huKSer said:
There should be some computer algorithm to set districts and eliminate the human component entirely.  Start at four different points of the state, group counties until the population desired is met and continue on to the next district.  The districts are the average of the four maps.
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I think this is what we're going to have to go to. There are reasons to draw districts such that ethnic or other like groups are kept together, but I think preserving democracy is more important.

 
Here is a good article explaining why it will be difficult for the Dems to repeat the gerrymandering done by repubs.

Of course the goal would be to have none. 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/2/17173158/democrats-gerrymander-segregation

End of article:

Democrats draw favorable maps for themselves when they can, and in the future may have more state legislatures under their control to draw maps for. As recently as 2002, a Democratic-drawn map for Texas gave Democrats a majority of its US House delegation long after national realignment had turned it into a red state.

The geographical reality, however, is that this is a game Republicans are going to play more effectively on a systematic basis. So rules requiring districts to fairly represent the overall voting behavior of the state would, in the long run, be better for Democrats — unless they either stop being the preferred party of racial minorities or residential segregation vanishes as a phenomenon.
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