Redistricting Game

A news item written by Mike Musgrove, June 10, 2007 in the Washington Post talks about a game developed by a University of Southern California that makes it simple to learn about redistricting and gerrymandering. The Redistricting Game lets players bend the borders of congressional districts in a series of missions set in fictional states. Protect the incumbents, oust the opposition -- it's amazing what a few mouse-clicks can do. You read about gerrymandering in civics class, but it's much more involving to actually try your hand at it.
Washington Post

USC Anneberg play the game.

Thanks to a modem that moves at the pace of icing sliding off a sheet cake I did not play.

When Will Ohio End Gerrymandering?

Columbus Dispatch Editorial End Gerrymandering

Ohio voters deserve something better. The time is right for change because neither political party can predict which one will have the upper hand when the 2010 census figures trigger the district-drawing process.

The "wrong winner" disparity in Ohio

Columbus Dispatch District lines in Ohio foil Democrats by Jonathan Riskind and Jim Siegel Sunday, December 3, 2006 A clear majority of Ohioans who voted in the Nov. 7 election preferred a Democratic congressional candidate.

So did Franklin County voters, where Democratic House candidates drew in excess of 10,000 more votes than Republicans.

The result?

While Democrats won nearly 53 percent of the congressional votes statewide, only about 39 percent of Ohioans will be represented next year by Democrats in Congress.


also mentioned in the Dispatch news story Fair Vote.org Special Report: 10 Stories About Election '06

Why your vote doesn't matter as much

If gerrymandering has been around for such a long time, why are its most extreme effects being felt only now?

Three reasons: Mapping. Connecting. Cultivating

Scientific gerrymandering, and the astute use of other advantages that accrue to incumbents, have resulted in an electoral sea wall around the House of Representatives that can withstand all but the most powerful political tsunamis.
USAToday Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006 by Ross K. Baker

Voting System Security & Suppression Strategies

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of LawMission Statement

The Machinery of Democracy: Voting System Security, Accessibility, Usability, and Cost. The report is the final product of the first comprehensive, empirical analysis of electronic voting systems in the United States. It comes after nearly two years of study with many of the nation’s leading academics, election officials, economists, and security, usability and accessibility experts.

Cast Out: New Voter Suppression Strategies in 2006 and Beyond We are well-informed of Election Day problems, but disenfranchising policies silently affect hundreds of thousands of voters long before then. These new voter suppression strategies will have an enormous impact on elections in 2006 and beyond.

Gov. of California vetoes AB 2948

LA Times by Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writer October 1, 2006
The governor rejected legislation to have California join a campaign by states to elect presidents by a national popular vote instead of by the Electoral College. AB 2948 by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Anaheim) was intended to compel contenders to campaign everywhere and not just primarily in swing states.

Bush is right for the wrong reasons

Yahoo News Sat. Sept. 9, 2006 Bush Confident GOP will hold Congress

President Bush is right for the wrong reasons.

I think Gerrymandered congressional districts will be the reason the Republicans hold onto the Congress.

Safe Seats Democrats = 183
Safe Seats Republicans = 174

Leans and Favors Democrats = 20
Leans and Favors Republicans = 46

No clear favorite = 12

CQ Politics 2006 Election Forecast Detailed Forecast Charts

California to quit electoral college?

August 31, 2006 Los Angeles Times by Nancy Vogel
A Vote to Quit the Electoral College
Lawmakers sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill, AB 2948, on Wednesday that would make California the first state to jump aboard a national movement to elect the president by popular vote.

Under the legislation, California would grant its electoral votes to the nominee who gets the most votes nationwide — not the most votes in California.......read more

This bill was introduced by a Democrat who maybe didn't stop to think who won the popular election in 2004.
Stuck on 2000 I reckon.

How many Congressional Districts Should America Have?

how much does a congress member earn in a year? $165,200.
how many districts are there? 435
how many constituents in each district? average = 688,749

how does that rate of pay work out per constituent?

$165,200 per year
...........divided by 688,749 = 0.2398552 cents per constituent.
It would require 1.69 constitutents to pay for one .39 cent postage stamp.

From the Home page of theOffice of The Clerk U.S. House of Representatives click on Member Information then Member FAQS

Maybe it is time for us to think about making more congressional districts. The current number, 435, was determined almost one hundred years ago. America has added states and the population has grown and keeps on growing.

Yet, we have stuck with a formula devised in 1911. Like when Alaska and Hawaii came in, we didn't add representatives.

Our Constitution talks about the number 30,000 per district. Yeah it does. I know most folks don't think about it but that is the number mentioned in the Constitution. Article 1: Section 2, part 3 goes like this:
"...........within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative;........"

What I get out of that is, we could if we wanted to, have more representatives apportioned to the population. The founding fathers seemed to think the population shouldn't be diluted beyond 1 to 30,000. IF we took the current population and divided that by 30,000 the answer would = 9986.

Of course that is way too many representatives. They would never get anything done. That said, I still think we ought to think about adding congressional districts for these reasons:

1. States could use GPS and micro targeting to work out more representation for more ethnic races.

2. The power of the representative would be diluted, but his constitutents would gain some influence.

3. Elections could be done cheaper with smaller districts and fewer constitutents.

4. Adding representatives would close the gap between lobbyists on the hill and the congressional members who are now pretty badly outnumbered. I read there about 30,000 registered lobbyists in Washington DC.

5. There are too many safe seats now, adding districts would give us more honest elections.

6. IF districts are more ethnically diverse that would better reflect our country.

7. Current legislators work way to hard and get paid not enough when you think how many folks they are responsible for.

8. Constituents will find it easier to keep an eye on their Congress member.

9. Congress members would be able to go to Washington DC and work for the people instead of having to work on getting reelected and building up their campaign funds.

10. If campaigns were cheaper to run, maybe members could get reelected without all these 527's and swift boat guys and move on folks. Corporations wouldn't be running the country.

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