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Nobody violated the Constitution. Can you tell me what article/section they have violated?
Both Parties have used "gerrymandering" (as it is called) for many decades. As the court has now drawn the lines, they now heavily favor Democrats, even in districts that are predominantly Republican, and Republicans they are now drawn so that Republicans are now not living within districts that they represent!
This has been done by design, so that the Democrats can win Pennsylvania. More corruption on the part of Democrats. It's the only way they are able to win.
You make an accusation of corruption I would suggest you contact someone if you know about illegal goings on,thanks
Keep in mind that this state of affairs doesn't impact just Ds and Rs. It puts up yet another barrier for third parties. It's conceivable that in fairly drawn districts that it would be easier for a third party to organize around an issue of importance to that district, since districts ideally reflect local common interests. This means, for instance, not splitting up cities into several pie-shaped districts drawn so that rural voters dominate all the districts.
Both parties gerrymander if they can get away with it, because they want to secure as many safe, non-competitive seats for themselves as possible. Gerrymandering is a bad thing if you want to see more turnover in state legislatures and in Congress, and therefore more bipartisanship. Competitive races also increase voter participation, because more people feel that their votes matter.
The university of Stanford professor redrew the districts and it was approved by the court.
So, some far left academic who voted for Obama twice and no-doubt passionately supports the Democrat party and the far left redrew the map - a task assigned to him by a 5-2 Democrat court - which the court then very predictably approved.
This is why the legislature is constitutionally responsible for drawing these maps and not some activist, partisan court.
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We Americans desperately need an independent commission for this matter - appointments for 12 to 14 year staggered terms: The commission would hear advice from the Census Bureau, the Justice Department, and maybe a few other agencies. That way, the state congressional districts would reflect how the state as a whole votes in federal elections (10 year moving average, with maybe somewhat greater weight given to the previous five years). The UK has a Boundary Commission charged in part with drawing MP constituency boundaries. What I propose is not exactly like the UK Boundary Commissions (one for each "province") but it does approximate it.
This is going to be a long fight over this here in Pa. Looking at it, the new map isn't much better than the old one, both are geared to favor one political party over the other. My county gets split three ways down from four. Hoorah.
What can we expect from politicians and elected officials? Corruption and incompetence seem to be about right.
In what specific ways is the new map a gerrymander? Which county are you in btw?
So, some far left academic who voted for Obama twice and no-doubt passionately supports the Democrat party and the far left redrew the map - a task assigned to him by a 5-2 Democrat court - which the court then very predictably approved.
This is why the legislature is constitutionally responsible for drawing these maps and not some activist, partisan court.
Interesting. In which universe do you reside? Here in this one, legislatures are composed of party members, who are both activist and partisan - that's why they ran for office. Please explain how the people in your universe keep activists and partisans out of their legislatures.
Also, it's not a fact that every state legislature is constitutionally responsible for districting. IIRC, from the voluminous references I posted above, the legislature is responsible in 28 states. In the 22 others, some other method is used. And they all have some final arbiter process. In Pennsylvania, their constitution provides that the final arbiter is - guess who? - the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
If this bothers you so much, you'll just have to move to Pennsylvania and start a movement to amend their constitution so it meets your standards. Keep us updated, I for one am dying to know how well that will work out for you.
It is absolutely head-shaking that anyone would object to districts as these have been re-drawn.
Each district is now is a wholly contained entity as it should be.
For those who object, I really wish someone would explain how or why having districts that snake across random parts of the state is a good thing anywhere.
Anyone?
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