Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General Gerrymandering

Abolishing the Electoral College won't happen. It would take a Constitutional Amendment. 2/3rds of the House, 2/3rds of the senate to pass the amendment along with 3/4th of the states ratifying it. In today's modern political era of polarization, the great divide along with super, mega, ultra-high partisanship, no way.

I'll be satisfied with the changes made in the article. Small step, but a forward step vs. nothing. Where the idea the the president of the senate, the VP could reject the certified votes is beyond me. The Constitution states "The president of the senate shall in the presents of the senate and the house of representatives, open the certificates, then the votes shall be counted."

That's pretty cut and dry. The constitution doesn't state who'll count the votes, but it does say the president of the senate, the VP shall or will open the certificate. Certainly the electoral count act is flawed as it lets a senator and a member of the house to challenge the certificate. Which isn't in the constitution. Simply put, once certified, it's official. Only counting is left to do.

Kentucky became the latest state to complete its redistricting. That brings us to 33 states done which is counting the 6 states with a single, lone representative. In the gerrymandering wars, the democrats still have their 6-seat gerrymandering advantage. We’re up to 274 newly drawn districts. 161 districts are remaining to be redrawn. There’re still are two big states left, New York and Florida. Several medium sized states, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 268 newly drawn districts, there are 22 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 15 Democrats and 7 Republicans. Safe seats as of 21 Jan 2022, 127 Democratic, 124 Republican.

States in litigation that will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. I’ve also listed whether a political party gained or didn’t on the redistricting, old maps vs. new maps.
Alabama – Neither party gained
Georgia – Neither party gained
Maryland – Neither party gained
Michigan -Neither party gained
Nevada – Democrats gained
New Jersey – Democrats gained
North Carolina – Republicans gained
Texas – Neither party gained

Mississippi became the 34th state to complete its redistricting counting the 6 states with a single, lone representative. In the gerrymandering wars, the democrats have a 6-seat advantage. We’re up to 278 newly drawn districts. 157 districts are remaining to be redrawn. There’re still two big states left, New York and Florida. Several medium sized states, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 278 newly drawn districts, there are 24 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Safe seats as of 24 Jan 2022, 128 Democratic, 126 Republican.

States in litigation that will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. I’ve also listed whether a political party gained or didn’t on the redistricting, old maps vs. new maps.

Alabama – Neither party gained
Georgia – Neither party gained
Maryland – Neither party gained
Michigan -Neither party gained
Nevada – Democrats gained
New Jersey – Democrats gained
North Carolina – Republicans gained
Texas – Neither party gained

With the states remaining, I don’t see the Democrats gerrymandering lead shrinking. It’ll probably increase as New York’s Democratic legislature plans on taking redistricting away from that state's independent redistricting commission to draw the lines themselves. That could add another 3 democratic seats bringing to 9 the Democratic advantage in the gerrymandering war.

https://news.yahoo.com/york-democrats-poised-control-redistricting-173718205.html

The above isn’t a done deal yet but it is in the works. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Democrats retain control of the house through gerrymandering? It’s very possible.

Looks like Alabama’s map got a big “Nope!” from a Federal court and needs to be redrawn. Those pesky courts are always messing-up a good gerrymandered district.

...but I'm sure the SCOTUS will allow black Americans to be disenfranchised in Alabama when Alabama appeals - and conservative Clarence Thomas will probably even write the majority opinion.

Updated to take Alabama out of the newly drawn redistricting maps. What the judge did was move blacks into their or what will be their own two black districts and whites into the remaining 5 districts. Regardless, what this accomplishes is increase the number of Democratic congressmen from Alabama from one to two. A gain for the Democrats. I've always wondered if this isn't federal gerrymandering or federal sponsored segregation. Doesn't really matter, it is what it is.

I always favored a law that simply states that as many counties as possible must remain whole. If you had 3-4 representatives, you could only divide one county. 5-7 only 2 counties could be divided etc. Make each district as compact as possible. Not a snowballs chance in Hades of that ever happening.

Without further ado or comments, here’s the updated redistricting totals.

A federal judge threw out Alabama’s new redistricting map, lowering the total states who have completed redistricting down to 33 counting the 6 states with a single, lone representative. In the gerrymandering wars, the democrats are at a plus 6 seats or districts. We’re down to 271 newly drawn districts now that Alabama must redraw theirs to meet the federal judge’s specs. 164 districts are remaining to be redrawn. There’re still two big states left, New York and Florida. Several medium sized states, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 271 newly drawn districts, there are 24 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 16 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Safe seats as of 24 Jan 2022, 127 Democratic, 120 Republican.

States in litigation that will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. I’ve also listed whether a political party gained or didn’t on the redistricting, old maps vs. new maps.

Georgia – Neither party gained
Maryland – Neither party gained
Michigan -Neither party gained
Nevada – Democrats gained
New Jersey – Democrats gained
North Carolina – Republicans gained
Texas – Neither party gained

Whatever you want to call it, it would stop tomorrow if states like Alabama would toss their KKK/Bull Connor mindset in the garbage where it belongs.
But of course, the big evil "Fedul Gubmit" is the bad guy, right?

I’ve always wondered about that Jeffery. I live in a majority black district and am very happy with David Scott as my congressman. Which brings me back to the county I live in. It’s divided into three districts, a county of 70,000. Which I think is crazy. I have much more in common with the folks living in my county regardless of race, voting habits, etc. than folks living in Atlanta or on the Alabama border.

I say throw out voting habits, race, religion, anything else you can think of out the window. Then come up with a way to keep districts as compact as possible and as many counties whole as possible. Keep people who live together and have the best interest of their county, city, neighborhood at heart. My goal is to keep my county whole which isn’t going to happen. Not when the powers to be are mandated to make squiggly lines so most blacks are in one district, most whites in the other two.

But dividing my county as is done ensures, guarantees one Democratic congressman and two Republican congressmen due to racial and voting habit gerrymandering. We’re back to congressmen choosing their voters instead of the voters choosing their congressmen. That in my opinion is what this is all about, a guaranteed outcome before the first vote is cast. Reminds me of the old USSR voting system.

Georgia is approximately 35% black, what the new map will have is 4 majority black districts, 9 majority white districts and 1 mixed, roughly even district. Really no change from the old map outsides the lines were moved to get the same results or racial breakdown as in the old map.

South Carolina has finished its redistricting, bring us back up to 34 states with new maps. South Carolina’s map basically matches its old one. Thus, In the gerrymandering wars, the democrats retain their 6 seat or district advantage. We now have 278 newly drawn districts; 157 districts remain to be redrawn. Two big states are remaining, New York and Florida. Several medium sized states, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 278 newly drawn districts, there are 25 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 17 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Safe seats as of 27 Jan 2022, 128 Democratic, 125 Republican.

States in litigation that will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. I’ve also listed whether a political party gained or didn’t on the redistricting, old maps vs. new maps.

Georgia – Neither party gained
Maryland – Neither party gained
Michigan -Neither party gained
Nevada – Democrats gained
New Jersey – Democrats gained
North Carolina – Republicans gained
Texas – Neither party gained

Hawaii became the 35th state to approve and sign into law their new map. The democrats maintain their 6 seat or district advantage in the gerrymandering war. We now have 280 newly drawn districts; 155 districts remain to be redrawn. Two big states are remaining, New York and Florida. Several medium sized states, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 280 newly drawn districts, there are 27 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 18 Democrats and 9 Republicans. Safe seats as of 31 Jan 2022, 129 Democratic, 124 Republican.

Idaho and New Mexico joined the states in litigation over their new map. These states in litigation will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. Listed is who drew the maps being challenged by lawsuits.

Georgia – Republican legislature
Idaho – Republican legislature
Maryland – Democratic legislature
Michigan -Independent commission
Nevada – Democratic legislature
New Jersey – Democratic legislature
New Mexico – Democratic legislature
North Carolina – Republican legislature
Texas – Republican legislature

New York became the 36th state to approve and sign into law their new map. The democrats increased their gerrymandering edge to 12 seats with New York adding 3 Democratic districts while eliminating 3 Republican districts. We now have 306 newly drawn districts; 129 districts remain to be redrawn. Florida is the only big state remaining. Several medium sized states have yet to redraw their district maps, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri and Washington. The remaining are the smaller states which have less than 10 electoral votes.

Out of the 306 newly drawn districts, there are 27 competitive, switchable districts. Currently held by 18 Democrats and 9 Republicans. Safe seats as of 4 Feb 2022, 150 Democratic, 129 Republican.

The below listed states are in litigation over their new maps. These states in litigation will probably change the above listed safe and competitive seats depending on the outcome of the lawsuits. Listed also is who drew the maps being challenged by lawsuits.

Georgia – Republican legislature
Idaho – Republican legislature
Maryland – Democratic legislature
Michigan -Independent commission
Nevada – Democratic legislature
New Jersey – Democratic legislature
New Mexico – Democratic legislature
North Carolina – Republican legislature
Texas – Republican legislature