What would be a fair way to redistrict (based on the decennial Census)? Should all states use an independent commission like some states do? --------------- I live in Texas and we have some pretty crazy districts. My two best friends live less than a mile apart. However, one lives in Lamar Smith's (R) 21st District and the other lives in Lloyd Doggett's (D) 35th District. What's funny is that the 35th is basically one of the craziest districts created in Texas (based on the 2010 Census redistricting) that includes big populations of both San Antonio and Austin, joined only by a thin strip of highway. It basically looks like a automatic weapon :lol:. Spoiler
I was hoping you knew from the title. It's something I've always been interested in, but haven't really known enough to form opinions. Maybe they should look at population statistics concerning race, religion, political leanings, and socioeconomic status. They should also divvy up based on general areas such as cities and try to make sure the number of people per representative is even.
Yes, I really think an independent commision is required. I think they need professional geographers or others with knowledge of the population (regardless of political party). Maybe the zipcode system is a useful model.
Representative John Tanner(R-TN) had a bill a few years ago that would establish independent commishes to redistrict congressional discricts. These independent commissions couldnt use partisan or demographic data to do so either. It would've been great if it ever passed but it never really gained traction because neither party in the house would support that. I'm doubtful that any change will be made because redistricting is often used to protect incumbents seats. Therefore the house won't vote for it because they want to stay in office.
That's why you need grassroots support. The dominant two parties are too chummy when it comes to giving up their power.
Not sure if I got the idea from The West Wing (I think it was about campaign finance reform or some other topic everyone is "for" in theory but is politically disadvantageous for them personally), but the idea could be to pass legislation where an independent commission is created to redistrict, but is created years in the future from the day it's passed (e.g. 10-15 years) so that the current legislators aren't immediately affected. Of course, you would have to put in some mechanism in the law to prevent future legislatures from chipping away at that concept (e.g. only a referendum or supermajority can strike the law).
It amazes me that the United States doesn't have a Federal electoral commission. Actually, it doesn't amaze me at all. It does give me a very clear example of one of the reasons the US can be considered one of the shallower of the full democracies.
We do have the FEC for federal election campaign finance rules, but it is a panel of 6 members who are, by statute, 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans. Kinda hard for them to have any real teeth :lol:.
No. It's entirely limited to the rules of campaign finance. The closest thing we had to federal control of boundaries was the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act, which was gutted by SCOTUS.
An StG-44 by the looks of it XD. I dislike the practice of gerrymandering though. It is corruption in one of its most brazen forms. They redraw the districts to include only those most likely to vote for their own party in the next election; why not expect politicians to draw districts to accurately represent a cross-section of their people?
