IS IT REALLY GERRYMANDERING?

TOO MANY PEOPLE SCREAM "GERRYMANDERING" WHEN IT ISN'T!

TOO MANY PEOPLE SAY THAT WHAT IS GERRYMANDERED IS FAIR
AND THAT WHAT IS FAIR IS GERRYMANDERED!

• What is gerrymandering?

  Gerrymandering is deliberately drawing election district lines to favor or oppose any party or candidate.

• Examples of gerrymandering

  1. Manipulating boundary lines so some districts vote mainly for one party and others vote mainly for another party.
  2. Manipulating boundary lines so some districts vote mainly for one candidate and others vote mainly for another candidate.
  3. Manipulating boundary lines so some districts are mainly one race or ethnicity and others are mainly another race or ethnicity.
  4. Packing most voters for one party into a single district.
  5. Manipulating boundary lines to move an incumbent into a different district.
  6. Manipulating boundary lines to put two or more incumbents into the same district.
  7. Making an at-large district (multiple offices voted on in the same race).
  8. Obeying a demand to have a district that is all a minority party, a minority race, or a minority ethnic group,
  9. When districts have shapes that cannot be explained by anything but trying to gain vote margins.
  10. When districts have borders that jiggle back and forth a precinct here and there instead of following the county and township lines.
  11. Obeying a demand that the parties must have equal representation when the majority of the population tends to favor one party.

  Notice that the Supreme Court recently ruled that creating districts to favor minorities is unconstitutional.
    Minority preference districts ARE gerrymandering.

• What is NOT gerrymandering?

  It is not gerrymandering when there is no intent to affect the outcome of an election:

  1. When no map can be created from the available numbers of districts and population centers without quirks.
  2. When some population centers must be treated differently from other population centers.
  3. When the district lines follow natural boundaries (rivers, mountain ridges, city limits, township lines, county lines, and jurisdiction limits).
  4. When the political makeup of each district is close to the makeup of the governing body as a whole.
  5. When the number of population centers is close to, but not equal to, the number of districts.
  6. When there are too few districts to be able to create equal districts.
  7. When a party or candidate claims that all of the districts are gerrymandered.

• Examples of not gerrymandering

  1. When there is a district for each population center.
  2. When there are fewer districts than there are population centers.
  3. When one or two districts wind around to fill the spaces between population centers.
  4. When a government denies a demand for a district that is all a minority party, a minority race, or a minority ethnic group,
  5. When a district has an odd shape to avoid moving an incumbent out of his district.
  6. When all of the districts have the same ratios of voters as taken by party (often called gerrymandering by minor party winning no seats).
  7. Many politicians blame gerrymandering as the reason they lost the election.
  8. Any claim that an entire redistricting map is gerrymandered is usually bogus.

• So how can minorities be represented if districts can't be made for them?

  1. There is too much polarization between the two parties.
      What each party wants, the other hates:
     • One party is anti-war; the other wants a strong military to prevent war.
     • One party wants spending on only necessary things; the other wants government to provide "nice" things that are not necessary.
     • One party wants religious rights; the other wants things that violate religions.
        They even want tax money to pay for those violating things, so paying your taxes disobeys your own religion.
     • One party wants deficit spending, not caring about how much inflation it causes. The other party wants balanced budgets and no inflation.
     • One party wants government to pay for all health care; the other wants government to stay out of health care.
     • One party wants higher taxes and bigger government; the other wants to reduce both.
     • One party has the gall to say it should never have to lose an election.
     • One party has hate campaigns against the other with false statements.
  2. Part of the problem is that there are only two parties.
      With more parties, minorities could have more representation.
     • If there were more parties, there could be moderate parties don't want such extremes.
     • We have two parties because the faulty election systems we use cause it.
     • Winner-take-all is definitely wrongdoing.
     • Plurality Voting (vote for only one) causes third party votes to steal votes from the other parties.
     • Plurality Voting usually elects the candidate most different (extreme) than the others.
     • Ranked Voting (order choices best to worst) allows third parties, but still can unfairly elect the most different candidate.
     • Ranked Voting can't tell if you like or dislike a candidate midway in your ranking.
     • The only totally fair voting system is INDEPENDENT VOTING".
     • Independent Voting (vote on each choice separately) fairly allows many candidates.
     • Votes cannot be stolen with Independent Voting.
     • No primary is needed with Independent Voting.
  3. Part of the problem is that there is hate in the election campaigns:
     • It is unconstitutional to want tax money to pay for anything that disobeys a religion.
     • It is unconstitutional to favor or disfavor one party, race, or ethnicity over others.
     • It is wrongdoing to discriminate for or against any party, race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.
     • It is wrongdoing to lie about any candidate or party to sway any election.
  4. Proportional representation might be an answer. But then nobody voted for a person for representation. Your representative could be an unknown to you.
  5. Maybe a combination of representative and proportional representation can be devised.
  6. Increasing the number of districts and representatives is a solution. But Congress prohibited that for federal representation.
  7. Some other solution that has not been proposed may work.