Ever wonder why the CT 5th Distict includes Meriden, New Britain, and Kent? OK, probably not. However, the answer lies in the manner in which politicians draw electoral districts after every census. So why is this a big deal? If you are one of the 12% who aprove of the job Congress is doing, maybe it's not. Gerrymandering is tried and true political artform that has been going on since the dawn of American politics.
Blog Response due Friday 7:30 am.
(How) Should states and or the federal government or courts address the issue of gerrymandering? Be sure to fully explain your response.
42 comments:
Monica DiLeo
Gerrymandering is an awful example of party politics that has been an issue for decades in the United States. It interrupts the representative Democracy that our country was intended to have by dragging in the personal interests of politicians that interfere with the people’s right to be fairly represented in their government. Congressmen shouldn’t be allowed to make their districts the shapes of earmuffs just so they can secure their reelection. Partisan politics has been an issue that has only heated in the past couple years, and one that has continued to interfere with the fair representation of the people of the United States. The gridlock in Congress over the summer over the debt ceiling and the recent failure of the Super Committee exemplify the same issue that gerrymandering also plays into of politicians caring more about their parties than their constituents.
So what can be done to solve the complicated issue of gerrymandering? I believe that it should be the states responsibility to fix this issue. This lies in the fact that each state is unique with its own unique set of issues, constituents, and demographics. A one-size-fits-all plan handed down from the federal government will not work in this case. This can be seen in the videos, as the solution in California was much different than that of Iowa, as California has many significant minority populations to consider, whereas Iowa is almost entirely white. In a perfect world I’d love for all states to adopt Iowa’s system of having a nonpartisan computer specialist drawing the Congressional districts, as theoretically if a Congressman from a state such as California ended up with a minority group in his district in addition to a white majority it would be his job to represent the interests of all of his constituents. But in reality, this could not be guaranteed to occur, as many of the politicians (that I don’t particularly like from both parties) let money influence who they represent. So, for example, in a district that is 75% white, 20% black, and 5% Latino, it could occur where the uber-rich whites who gave lots of money to the campaign who had their interests represented in Congress. Situations such as this are why, in states with significant minority populations like California, it is important that there be a system in place like the one that they have with the independent Citizens Commission to draw the district lines.
Another issue to consider in solving the problem of gerrymandering is holding the states accountable for dealing with this issue. Usually it’s the job of our politicians and representatives to do this, but when their interests are the ones in question, whose job does it become to make sure that states pass plans to take the power of drawing Congressional lines out of the hands of state legislatures? While I think it should be the individual states’ jobs to come up with the specific plans, I believe the federal government needs to come up with a deadline for states to create these plans. Since Congress has a lot of personal interest in these plans, it would probably be best if the President took action in making this happen.
Basically, it should be a states issue to solve the problem of gerrymandering. The most important part is that no matter what plan is adopted that the state best believes fits their own needs, that this plan be completely nonpartisan- state legislatures should not be making the Congressional districts!
While on the surface gerrymandering appears to be a corrupt system that grants inept politicians term after unopposed term, it is in fact, a working system. No incumbent is elected without the majority of the vote, and the tremendous margins they win by reflect that a majority of their constituents do support them.
Gerrymandering eases the re-election campaign for hard working politicians. Instead of spending 7 million dollars on a single campaign, as did Iowa’s newly contested district’s candidates did, Congressmen have the advantage of only needing to appeal to those whose interests they best reflect. This works wonders for minority representatives, who do not face the risk of being voted out of their districts by a biased majority. It also ensures that the candidates can dedicate more of their time and money to their real jobs: governing, policymaking, and problem solving.
Some may argue that gerrymandering can be used for racist means. By segregating a minority population into a few districts, it eliminates the potential of the minorities winning more Congressmen. However, this is a two-sided argument. The reverse would be that Democrats, with their significant advantage in the minority population, would spread the minority population out enough to win several extra districts by smaller margins. This would in effect be reverse bias: traditionally Republican citizens, like farmers and Evangelical Protestants, would now have the disadvantage. And since Democrats, if they truly had the full support of the state, can win states and implement such systems, they have an equal and completely fair chance to win an advantage. Leadership is about making choices, and a quality leader would choose to allow both sides to have a chance at winning an advantage instead of allowing a random system where minority voices will get lost in the midst of a sea of the majority.
Gerrymandering, admittedly, is not the best system. In an idealized environment, such as the all white rural Iowans separated by no geographic boundaries, randomized districts are a better choice to inject elections with competition and candidates. However, in the melting pot of American diversity, gerrymandering does more good than harm. In the sense that representative republics are working democracies, Gerry “rigged” districts are working systems. Districts united by common interests and demographics should not be judged by their physical appearances, it is the people inside them that matter.
Gerrymandering is a difficult topic to deal with, as with many political issues, especially because there are arguments from both Republicans and Dems for and against it. Originally, before watching this video and learning more, I would have said that the policy of allowing already elected officials to redraw the Congressional districts is completely outrageous. After all, this policy allows incumbent Congresspeople almost a guarantee of being reelected, and the districts are mostly drawn for personal gain. But, then the issue of minority voting must be considered. As the host of the video pointed out, Iowa’s layout (divided into squares with no gerrymandering) may work for Iowa, but Iowa is flat and white. Without carefully crafted Congressional districts, through gerrymandering, gaining minority seats in Congress seems almost impossible. This is especially true in California, which is apparent in the layout of California’s plan for dealing with the issue of gerrymandering which makes districts with majority Latino or African American voters.
The two sides of the story can be seen, but I’m sure that many voters are offended by how the votes are rigged by elected officials for personal gain in many places at the moment. As to who is to deal with the ongoing problem, we know from the video that the Supreme Court will have nothing to do with it. However, the federal government cannot possibly come up with a plan that will work for every state either. After all, California and many other states have many minorities or geographical discontinuities making it difficult to separate the state in to “fair” Congressional districts. Conversely though, making these types of districts in flat, majority white states such as Iowa proves to be rather simple. Whether the lines should be drawn by someone who does not even know who is running in the districts: a completely nonpartisan expert, or a committee who is considering race as well as geography, or another method, cannot be decided as a generalization for each state by the federal government. Each state must decide what is best, and fair, for the voters. This issue is definitely one for the states, but certainly not for the incumbent Congresspeople.
Gerrymandering is a common part of every day politics and elections in the United States. The fact that it is common and has become a way of politics is a bit embarrassing for the United States because it is such a corrupt concept. It in a way defeats America’s goal of democracy, and freedom of the people because they are being organized in such a way that their votes won’t even make a difference when it comes to getting new or better politicians in office. Because of Gerrymandering the elections are run purely by the politicians versus the people’s choice. It also reflects poorly on the politicians because it develops the connotations that they care more about the notoriety of the office than making changes to help their communities. Equal partisanship and opportunity for fair representation is something supposedly guaranteed to all Americans, but this is clearly not the case, as politicians are abusing the system for their own gains.
Gerrymandering is creating logistical issues in addition to its clear violations against constitutional rights. Congress has been deadlocked recently because congress is so split and politicians and their interests are becoming more and more stratified. Like with the debt ceiling crisis over the summer, the two major parties in congress have taken to valuing their own beliefs and representing the interests of who they expect to re-elect them over what is best for their country. Politics are such a mess these days and it’s clear that the focus has been diverted from actual successful policy making. Therefore, Gerrymandering definitely needs to be taken care of.
The only way to resolve this issue is by creating a uniform policy that applies to all districts in America. If it was left to states then the resolution of this would still be subject to corruption. Across the board, there should be a clear law against Gerrymandering that does not allow for any loopholes. However, there is still the issue of the current districts that have been redrawn and have incumbents that aren’t going anywhere. To redraw all of the districts in the US to eliminate this problem, while ideal, is extremely unrealistic. The only thing to be done is prevent future gerrymandering. The one thing for sure is that the federal government needs to take care of this without involving partisan interests.
I believe that gerrymandering is a states’ issue and significant measures should be done to stop this unfair and undemocratic practice. Because of this manipulation, elections to state legislatures and Congress are 99.9 percent predictable. For example, in the 2002 Congressional elections, 98 percent of House members seeking re-election kept their seats, and more than 82 percent of them won by more than a 20 percent margin. The election was therefore rigged. The most important effect of gerrymandering is that the voters lose their most important civil right -- the right to choose their representatives. This basic democratic right is repeatedly stolen by politicians to ensure their own re-election and to increase their own political power. Gerrymandering can be ended by placing restrictions on the process of redistricting. More than two hundred years of American history show us that as long as redistricting is left to the discretion of politicians they will manipulate voting districts for their own political advantage. Only by regulating the process of drawing district boundaries can fair voting be restored.
An efficient way to do this is through a computer program that creates boundaries based on population numbers and geographical areas within a state, much like the program shown in this CNN special. Each state will own this program and will rerun it every five years to account for population changes. The computer divides the State into districts by using the population number of that state and diving it by the number of seats available to find the number of districts. Outside forces therefore can’t pick and chose portions to make sure they can get reelected but also still have districts that are represented by and voted for by people in a common geographical area. This program will only tabulate population and geographical area and in result will sometimes break up minority and even majority Districts (white vs. not white or Republican vs. Democratic). It also will break up districts that might be made up of one city and cut it in chunks and put the cities’ populations with other districts. This is not a problem because it forces the people running for the local district to actually try to win the vote and really represent the people that live there.
Gerrymandering is a practice that greatly inhibits the value of the voice of the voters. Gerrymandering, the process of grouping voters in such a way that favors a particular party, could also be seen as a process that undermines the egalitarian principle of democracy. Gerrymandering is on the rise, which leads the people of US to believe that, perhaps the candidates favor their own opinions over those of vast majority of the people. Politicians should not win elections because they skillfully and cunningly cheated their voters out of having a legitimate say in American politics. Politicians should win "fair and square" for lack of a better phrase. Using Gerrymandering tactics to triumph over opponents is not an appealing quality, and should be looked down upon.
Gerrymandering especially helps politicians who are supported by the minority. If the majority of the people prefer Republicans to Democrats, but a candidate belongs to the Democratic party, he or she has the power to distribute the Republican party members in such a way that each district has a majority of Democrats. Gerrymandering clearly does not reflect the view of the majority, and in no way supports the classic phrase, "majority rules." In the case of Gerrymandering, the minority rules, and the majority simply has to bite their tongues and let their voice go unheard (not to mention wait another ten years until the districts are re-drawn).
Finding a solution to this problem is much easier said than done. A grid-line method of separating states into districts might even yield the same results as Gerrymandering. The voice of the majority might not be heard, and their interests might not be reflected by using a grid to divide the states. However, one thing is for sure, it should not be left up to the states to find a solution. Although I am a supporter of the states being more independent, I believe that making this a national issue will be the fairest way to attack the problem. In any case, I think that the grid-line method is a better method than that of Gerrymandering, because it is somewhat random and not up to the self-centered politicians who are taking over the innocent American political system.
Gerrymandering is, to put it bluntly, an embarrassing, undemocratic loophole in politics that it seems politicians enjoy exploiting. And why shouldn’t they? No one seems to stop them, proving it to be very successful. This method of grouping voters in the favor of any one political party is making it easy for candidates to go from politicians to career politicians, just by shifting and repositioning the votes of certain citizens. The most disappointing aspect of gerrymandering is the fact that despite what the people of America have been taught since elementary school (“Every vote counts!”), your vote might not make any difference at all, thus destroying the democratic principles this nation was built on. I also disapprove of gerrymandering because in a way it is promoting and taking advantage of racism by grouping minority groups together in order to receive a majority vote from that demographic.
I believe more states should follow in California’s footsteps in order to ensure that this method of creating districts does not jeopardize the results of any more elections. However, there is not one fool-proof way of devising the perfect voting districts due to the fact that each state is unique. That is why decisions regarding gerrymandering should be left up to the individual states to regulate, rather than the federal government, whose plan would be so generic that it would most likely include further loopholes depending on the state utilizing it. State governments know and understand what would work best for their state. The grid-line method would be a plausible way to start reducing gerrymandering, and hopefully give way to more just results. It is not fair that citizens’ voices are not being heard and that consequently, the majority does not rule.
Gerrymandering should be dealt with by both the States as well as the Federal Courts. Since political parties are taking advantage in order to stay in power, this is an extremely important issue that affects all Americans. When Gerrymandering occurs, people are not able to have a say because it is quite obvious who will win the congressional elections. Politicians and parties alike should not be allowed to take complete control of seats in Congress because then there will be no point in people voting. In addition, according to the videos, there is racism involved as many minority voters in the South, who usually vote Democrat, are not able to have their voice heard and have the candidate and party that they want in power. This is a result of having the districts divided up so that most seats are taken in elections by Republicans. Overall, this is simply an unfair system.
Federal Courts are at the center of the problem, as seen in the videos, and they should be the ones taking control along with the states (where the Gerrymandering is going on) so the situation is handled properly. States should be divided up equally into districts in order for votes to be significant and for all parties and candidates to have equal chances for Congressional seats. Anyways, the people should have votes in order to allow for a democratic system of government. This Gerrymandering is a federal court and state problem, so they should be the ones to have to deal with it.
Period 6
Matt Mendonca
Gerrymandering is a political strategy that has been used by American politicians for centuries, since the early beginnings of elections and campaigning. However, despite being in the history and roots of United States culture, this does not make the practice of Gerrymandering a respectable or even right thing to do. This tactic strategically aids running politicians in winning continuous elections and keeping their House seats. This is made possible due to the fact that it is in the power of current House representative to distribute unfavorable or favorable voters into specific districts. This corrupt organization of people into odd district territories can skew results in elections so that politicians recieve an extremely high majority of votes. This process inflicts on the right of equal partisanship and opportunity for fair representation that is supposedly guaranteed to all American citizens. This selfish process also hints that politicians are now focused more on their own success and power than the important issues at hand that could benefit our country if they were instead the primary focus. It is also possible t through Gerrymandering that a new runner for the House spot who could potentially bring in very effective ideas to help our country will not be allowed that opportunity because the current politician has secured his spot by grouping his supporters in a district. For example, if the majority of a state is either republican or democrat and the House representative is the opposite, he can skew results of the next election by distributing members of his political party members so that they make up the majority of each district. Not only is this not fair to the opposing candidate challenger, but it also makes the power of the vote little to nothing. It isn’t surprising after studying Gerrymandering to see that in the 2002 Congressional elections, 98 percent of House members seeking re-election kept their seats. These reasons are why something needs to be done to stifle the process of Gerrymandering for good.
I do not believe that it should be the States to find a solution and be responsible for the prevention of Gerrymandering. Varying laws in different states could potentially cause havoc in House elections. Some states could allow Gerrymandering to continue while others wouldn’t find it suitable. This would make it not only make it easier for politicians to win in certain states more than others, but could drastically shift the scale of Republicans and Democrats in the House. A national solution to Gerrymandering and federal control will provide a nationwide resolution to this unfair process which all states would be forced to abide by. One way to solve this problem would be to strip politicians of their power of distributing people to certain districts. Also, district lines are only redrawn every ten years. This is a long time to allow corruption to go on and help politicians to keep their seats. A solution would be to make it necessary to redraw district lines more frequently, say every 3-5 which doesn’t seem too irrational or extreme. Districts could be drawn using the computer program discussed in the videos which seems like the most fair for results. In this way it is less likely to have an extreme majority of one race or political party in a district, making it necessary for politicians to actually persuade the public into choosing the correct candidate.
Gerrymandering is yet another technique where we see politicians putting their interests ahead of the general populations'. It doesn't make me disgusted with one party, rather it makes me disgusted with politicians in general because both sides are carrying it out. The sad part is that I honestly don't see how it could be fixed unless the overall system for electing representatives to congress changes. People tend to live in ethnic groups so the population is not equally random. If everyone was randomly dispersed throughout states then dividing it into districts would work. However, the world will never be that perfect, so if districts would only work in ideal conditions then what should we do? Get rid of them! If everyone in the state was allowed to vote for the same certain number of candidates then everyone would have a say and it wouldn't be rigged. Minorities would surely play a role in electing at least one candidate as long as there is a good population of them and lets face it, Majority rules! This is a democracy, if your candidate doesn't win then you suck it up, not go and cry because of "discrimination". Everyone's vote would be able to count because parties aren't rigging the votes in one area, so everyone is being accounted for. Sure it might be hard for representatives to campaign in the whole state, but senators do it, so they should be able to as well.
I don't think this should necessarily be in the hands of the states because there should be a uniform way of electing representatives so that it is a fair system. This whole process needs more order to continue and so it is a job for the federal government. I also agree with the federal courts that they should stay out of this issue. Both parties are carrying this out and so if both are doing it there would be no way to reprimand. Also, the courts and politics should not become this close involved. Sure the courts have to have checks on the political system, but it should only have to deal with serious offenses.
Politicians in general are just really obnoxious.
Kayleigh Torok Period Eight
Gerrymandering is an undemocratic and unfair way of messing with the polls. It does not demonstrate the true nature of America and the morals that the country was founded on. To think that government officials would cheat state districts to include favorable voters is wrong, and should be dealt with immediately.
The federal courts should be the ones to fix this issue. The state representatives, as well as federal officials, are too reliant on the voters and use gerrymandering to help their own elections. These people might intentionally create loopholes in legislation that would allow gerrymandering to occur. The issue is hard to create laws about because there are many different cases of gerrymandering, and all would be hard to restrict. However, the courts are more removed from the situation and can take an objective view when deciding how districts should be divided. They would make a fair decision about the situation without the pressure of not getting reelected.
The first step would be getting the issue out to the public. As shown in the video, many did not know what gerrymandering even was when asked. If more media attention was brought to the situation, the government would be forced to make adjustments in the system due to the public dissatisfaction. Once the public knows about it, the federal courts should step in to assess the problem, and pass legislation to end gerrymandering for good.
Nancy Li
The issue of gerrymandering is one that must be solved. It is a cheap method for Congress members to ensure their seats in the next election. As the reporter said “as long as politics continue to dominate redistricting, Congress will keep on running much like a merry-go-round”. Congressional districts should not be drawn in accordance to ethnicities; voters who participate in elections should vote solely on the issues and how candidates will solve the regions worries. A candidate is elected to be the representative of the people and work for the people. If the issue of being reelected is always on their mind, then they are not a true champion of the people. They attempt to serenade the voters in their district without focusing on the issue at hand—running an efficient United States government. The preoccupation with incompetents and their reelection is an appalling trait of Congress. The system in Iowa is one that should be applied to all the districts in the United States. Common topics during elections are that the same type of candidates always wins and Washington has an incompetent Congress. As the reporter said one of the reasons given will usually be gerrymandering. The same “incompetent” Congress members are elected again and produce the same result—nothing.
The street interviews with citizens by the reporter clearly exhibits that the American public is unbeknownst to the problem of gerrymandering. The extremes that Congress will take to create a gerryrigged district are at times humorous. The district that has a slim highway grass strip in Illinois to connect the district together is ridiculous. If the strip had a homeless person with voting rights living on it then maybe it will have a more viable reason for its existence. The matter of convincing states to adopt a similar system as Iowa will be a battle to the death with stubborn Congress members. The clear answer is to accept the change, but for some members it would be signing their own death warrant. The decision should be given to the individual states to decide as a national decision would most likely take more time and persuasion.
Gerrymandering, a completely unfair technique used by politicians to gain control over the polls, needs to be dealt with. Politicians redraw voting districts so that they contain members that are guaranteed to vote for them in an election. Because of this, some members of congress have had a seat for decades and are still in office. Gerrymandering makes it so that ones vote barely matters at all because the politicians have ensured that the specific district is already divided so that their party will win the election. But, isn't the point of democracy that the people made the decisions? The reason why we vote in the first place is so that we can take a part in the government and make our own voices heard. Gerrymandering is putting a stop to that.
Also, this technique is outrageous because it singles out minorities and places them in strangely drawn voting districts. One politician in the video even reffered to it as rasism, and I completely agree. Just like the politician said, its like going back to the times of segregation in socitey, but this time its political segregation. It is completely unfair.
This is all proven true by two examples. In North Carolina, the Republicans won for the very first time since the civil war because the politicians hired someone to redraw the voting districs. Gerrymandering? Of course it is. In California, a group of citizens got amendments passed to stop gerrymandering and formed a "Citizen's Commission" to help with stopping it. They've listened to thousands of people speak about the unfairness of their own district and helped to fix it.
I feel that the issue of Gerrymandering should be up to the states to decide because it would be very difficult to get an ammendment or law passed banning or restricting it with so many politicians using it to gain their seats. I thought that the "Citizens Commission" was a very good idea and having something like that in states would definitely help to fix the issue.
Emily Smith (Period 6)
Before watching these videos, I had no idea what gerrymandering was or that it even existed. I was appalled at how easily politicians can rig elections to their advantage. I thought for sure such a corrupt system would be unconstitutional; apparently, it is not. Gerrymandering allows politicians, particularly incumbents, to basically secure spots for themselves and their parties in Congress by creating ridiculously shaped districts that encompass people that will vote for them. In my opinion, this creates extreme corruption within our federal government as a whole, putting an enormous amount of power in the hands of politicians, rather than citizens of the United States. Obviously, something must be done about gerrymandering in order to stop utter discrimination and corruption. The first aspect that needs to be looked at is demographics. If one ethnicity dominates a district, it would cause a huge unfair advantage for a certain type of candidate. For example, if a district was made up of a majority of African Americans or gay people, the democratic candidate in the race would have a tremendous advantage, making it almost impossible for a Republican to have a chance, therefore ensuring the district will be Democratic. This type of gerrymandering based on division of certain demographics, in my opinion, is one of the biggest issues.
So how do we solve this issue? If it was up to me, I would create districts using proportional amounts of each demographic that would be standard throughout every district in a state. The amount of each demographic would be directly proportional to that of the state as a whole. For instance, if the state was made up of 70% Caucasians, 20% African Americans, and 10% Hispanics, then each individual district should have around 70% Caucasians, 20% African Americans, and 10% Hispanics. This way, each district would represent the state as a whole and the opinions of the majorities. Finally, I would disregard the shape of the district as long as it maintained demographics proportional to that of the state.
Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing oddly-shaped voting districts to block together similar voters to receive a political advantage, seems to be on the rise. The inefficiency of career politicians entrenching themselves in their offices becomes more and more apparent as a deadlocked Congress makes little or no progress and its approval rating drops to pitiful numbers. I understand that this presents a danger to our democratic society, in that districts subject to gerrymandering seem to successfully stifle the votes of minority opinions, but I do not have a clever suggestion to stopping it. Technically, the politicians who engage in gerrymandering follow the rules by making contiguous districts; and with full respect toward Justice Potter Stewart, I do not believe that districts can be judged case by case with an “I know it when I see it” mentality when their shape differs from a square. While I agree that districts shaped like earmuffs, dragons, and an avalanche of Rorschach test inkblots are ridiculous, I suspect there is no ultimate authority that can be responsible for enforcing fairly drawn districts. Any level of government would certainly be influenced by its members that benefit from gerrymandering (yes, even my precious states’ rights has failed me here); the Supreme Court has (rightly) declared this area to be outside of its jurisdiction; even the public in one California case had a shot at righting the unusually-drawn districts, but ultimately was not up for the task. So although I do not like gerrymandering at all, as I cannot come up with a solution to it and nor can our lawmakers, I will not rant angrily to the Internet about something that I do not have a solution for. And besides, candidates who carry such districts carry them by large margins; the concentration or dilution of certain groups in one district does not increase or reduce their number overall; such a system will not reverse democratic principles or undermine the country’s political fabric, but rather will “see-saw” a party’s power to a small degree, not enough to overwhelmingly elect candidates that a majority is not already for.
States should not be divided in order to fence people into biased districts to maintain support for congressmen/women. The excuse for “maintaining minority interests” is a lie used to gain support for conjuring up districts to divide people into subcategories based on ethnicity and party. A state should be divided into a number of districts proportional to the population in a state. There should not be any inconsistent shapes in districts to enforce bias and security for congressmen and incumbents. The only irregularities should be where the boarders of the states are. It is evident that the method of gerrymandering was engineered as a technique for those in power to stay in power. In some cases it can be beneficial in a sense of electing representatives that are appealing and are selected to represent that district due to district interests or in other words “minority interest.” But at the same time it keeps the flow of congress officials stagnant. Whereas without selective gerrymandering of districts an influx of newer and perhaps better representatives will be elected and they would be more motivated to keep the support of the voters. They would be more motivated to keep the support of the people because they are elected by a random population instead of a specific group. And in any case the representative’s job is to represent the people. If one person is not fitting for a group, then a more appropriate candidate will be elected and will serve his or her public accordingly. For they will then know that it is more than their candidacy and seat that is at stake, but the voices of the people as well.
Miranda Scaramozza
Period 6
Gerrymandering, although a system that may be viewed as "rigged", is actually quite successful. For years and years, politicians and political parties have used this clever system to get political leaders elected so that their party will benefit.
Minority canidates and parties have a better chance of being elected by the majority in a specific distric. The issue of Gerrymandering should be left to the States to handle. Splitting up the Districts within a state is decided every 10 years. Every 10 years the Democratic and Republican parties meet to redraw the districts in a way that will benefit their party best. If this process is regulated by the states, then very few disputes will take place, and if they do arise, they will be handled quickley.
By giving states the job of mediator between the parties, it is ensured that fair comprimises will be made. State legislatures will be given this job. Seeing as it will only be a job once every 10 years. State legislators will come up with solutions to any disputes that may come up.
Gerrymandering is another disgraceful part of the American political culture. It is similar to the crazy sproils system which put Mark Brown in charge of FEMA during New Orleans when the whole country witnessed his stunning incompetence. The process of Gerrymandering should end immediately. The country’s fate cannot be held hostage by the scientific redrawing of lines. The computer program presented in this program is effective at removing the bias of redistricting. This program should be instituted possibly by federal mandate as a way to rebalance the entire country. Districts should be decided in a logical way by population not the way a group of old, white, Christian men want them to be drawn.
Most importantly Gerrymandering prevents citizens from expressing their most powerful right. The right to vote. When elections can be rigged as they were in the last election cycle where an astounding 98% of the members of the House of Representatives were able to keep their seats it is evident that there is a HUGE problem. It is apparent the states are incapable of fixing the problem. The politicians in Washington do not want to make the change so it is left up to the president and the courts to make change. The president can issue an executive order and champion the removal of this undemocratic process as an icon of his presidency. Further, this is a situation where the courts can legislate on how to solve this miscarriage of democracy.
Beyond the immediate effects, the process is indicative of a far more serious threat, the creation of career politicians who care more about getting elected than representing their electorate. It is no wonder that everyday Americans have such a low view of government when they are putting their own election over the right to vote of every citizen. It is time the government wakes up and does something about this horrible system.
Maggie Senft (Period 6)
Gerrymandering is an unjust technique used by politicians to win elections by drawing electoral districts to benefit their own interests. I had no knowledge about "gerrymandering" before watching these videos, however after viewing these I feel that it is a completely unfair way of voting for Congress. These politicians come up with the reason that they are protecting the minorities by choosing the oddly shaped districts (like the earmuffs), but this creates an unfair advantage to those politicians who get elected by the minorities. I believe that gerrymandering should be controlled by the state governments, however the federal government should oversee the states to make sure it is completely fair. The states should be the ones to address gerrymandering because each state has its different issues with its elections and therefore needs to deal with it differently. For example, California. Iowa, and Connecticut all have very differing needs of their governments so their Congressmen need to address those differing issues, which gerrymandering directly effects. I feel that the best solution is to get rid of gerrymandering by having, like Iowa had done, each state have a computer program draw up the lines to equally separate the populations of the state into fairly proportionate districts. This would eliminate the issue of unjust Congressmen drawing district lines to benefit themselves, although it would create an issue of minorities not being represented. There is no solution to gerrymandering that benefits all, thus the only way to keep the system of government fair is to try to keep gerrymandering at low levels and eventually try to prevent it from occurring so our system of government is fair again.
Taylor Frazier (period 6)
Gerrymandering is a prime example of the disgraceful and pathetic political actions associated with our voting system. The oddly-shapped ditricts that these corrupt politicians are drawing do not appropriately voice the wants and needs of the people but rather ensure that the people in the district will vote for a particular candidate. The issue of gerrymandering needs to be solved so that unfair and unjust politicans no longer have the capability of redistributing people to their liking so that they know the outcome of elections before they are held. This process causes people to be unmotivated to vote because they know that unless they are voting for that districts cardidate, their vote has no meaning and goes to nothing. I had no knowledge of gerrymandering before viewing the video but after watching the segments and understanding what exactly it is I realize that it is simply a disgrateful aspect in American culture. These politicians that claim to have the peoples best interest in mind and are drawing these lines to protect the minorities are not interested in anything other than maintaining their seat in congress. This system causes problems at many levels. Because people are discouraged from voting politicians are securing their positions and becoming career politicians that are only interested in their reelection and do not properly advocate the needs of the people.
I think that unjust congressmen should not be allowed to draw their own district lines and that instead their should be a group of unbiased individuals drawing the district lines with the peoples interests in mind. This would cause the politicians to care what the people think of them and actually cause them to attempt to appeal to a new group rather than the same old voters. The cadidates would therefore do more while champaining and would truly need to prove to the people that they would make the changes that society feels are important. This method of dividing the districts helps the majority opinion surface and keeps wrongly elected officials out of congress.
Eric Price (period 8)
Before watching this "Gerrymandering" was something i have never heard of before, but now that i understand what it is I see the truth behind the voting system. With the majority of my class having the ability to vote in the next election, we find here that the location of a person already has a determined outcome of the winning candidate. Gerrymandering is a very unjust way to deal with elections. The use of redrawing lines so often sets up elections to be predetermined for future house seats. There really is no blame to put out because both parties are accused of abusing gerrymandering. As shown in the video the southern states, such as Alabama and Georgia, use gerrymandering to draw certain lines between races to get certain votes. The republican party used these lines to separate African American voters, who were mostly democratic, from white voters, who were mostly republican, in North Carolina. As of right now there is no solution that is completely working, that has been suggested, to fix the gerrymandering problem. The only true way to get rid of these rigged elections is to randomly draw lines so race, income, or beliefs are not reflected in the newly drawn lines, almost the same as what was suggested in the video. A good way of regulating this could be with help from federal government in making some sort of law concerning the amount of square miles a congressman is aloud to use and the shape of the newly drawn districts. As of right now the these responsibilities are in the hands of the congressmen and the state governments. So, for the next decade or so the use of gerrymandering will still play a significant role in the House elections and most parties holding seats currently will most likely stay there.
To begin with, I believe that gerrymandering is a corrupt system that politicians use to get elected by unjust means. Not only is it is racist but it provides an unfair advantage for politicians. It essentially makes it so that the votes of some Americans really don’t even count so election results become skewed. If our country were to stay true to our Democratic values, we would not be practicing this method. It is imperative that we rid of this unconstitutional practice.
There is no easy solution to correcting the issue of gerrymandering. However, I feel that it should be addressed by the states because it relates more to the state’s interests than it does to the federal government. They should set redistricting guidelines to fix this problem.
I really don't approve of gerrymandering. It is a disgrace to the democracy that our country is founded on. It is an unfair and selfish way of silencing the people to win a seat in Congress. It is rather embarrassing that Politicians exploit this opportunity to get ahead.
Both the state and the federal governments need to get involved to address this issue because they are both to blame. I think that it is important to our country's government to not allow political parties to completely dominate seats in Congress. The fact that Congressmen rearrange lines to stay in power is corrupt and inappropriate.
I think that the federal government needs to take charge and direct the states on how to divide up their state into districts. A set of guide lines must be set out to determine the break up of each state. States should be broken up evenly and equally based on the census data not based on the candidate wanting to win.
If the federal government does not intervene, I feel that the gerrymandering already going on will only get worse. This video really opened my eyes to the craziness of the whole situation and I think that it needs to end now. The federal government needs to take a stand to return the US to a more democratic union.
Tiantian Liu (period 8)
The practice of gerrymandering is a manipulation of electoral districts to benefit the party in power. It is a hundred percent unfair and should be stopped in the voting process. By gerrymandering districts the party involved can encompass a certain percentage of voters in that political party. Likely, the wasted and excess votes are able to concentrate the voting power of the opposition party into just a few districts; and weaken the voting power of the opposition across many districts in order to prevent the opposition to gain the majority votes in districts. These methods will help certain Congress members to maintain their seats in the coming elections. Through the videos, the corrupt and ugly side of the political world is clearly presented in the common usage of gerrymandering in modern American elections. It is in the way of votes by the people, whom actually wanted to make differences in this country, and it is the direct opposite of what we know as democracy.
This issue could be solved with help from each state across the board. The first step is to have a separation of equally distributed population in each proportionate district. A certain standardized police should be established along side the separations in order to prevent another method like gerrymandering. Iowa had set a good example, but it is highly unlikely for Congress members to go along with it without a fight. Hard as it is to avoid, gerrymandering is an issue in concern of each individual states and the whole nation, therefore it needs to be solved in time.
One of the biggest blemishes the United States has in its political culture is Gerrymandering. It is disgraceful and should end immediately. The fate of the country is literally held in the hands of those who scientifically redraw the lines to favor their own candidates. Gerrymandering completely undoes a citizen’s right to vote by having it mean the least as it possibly could. With favorable redrawn lines, a winner can almost be accurately predicted 99% of the time, with the citizens having almost no say. With a constantly low approval rating, congress still maintained 98% of the members of the house in one year. Gerrymandering completely undermines the rights of the American citizen and lowers the effect of every citizen’s vote.
I believe the best solution is the computer program presented, which would take much of the bias away from the system. This would distribute the districts logically by population, rather than targeting specific areas to get more members in congress. This process promotes inept career politicians, while also undermining its original goal of maintaining minority interests. Gerrymandering silences the voice of the citizens of the United States of America, and it needs to be outlawed quickly.
Tiffany Wang
Gerrymandering is an unfair, political strategy that disarranges polls. It is a practice mostly by incumbents, who attempt to keep a political advantage by manipulating geographic boundaries to haul in the votes, thus keeping their House seats. This practice is so advantageous to incumbents. In the 2002 Congressional elections, 98 percent of House members seeking re-election kept their seats. The interests of the representatives and the interests of the voters are not the same. In a fair election, citizens want candidates to earn their vote, keeping close elections. But representatives want safe elections where they can win by a landslide, an election that is run in a range that is full of supporters. Gerrymandering is an undemocratic practice. Voters lose their most important civil right, the right to choose their candidates. Politicians are in it more for themselves, by practicing this tactic, than for the interest of the people they are representing.
I think the issue regarding gerrymandering should be left for the states to decide for themselves. Each state is unique, they know their own people better than anyone else, and have the knowledge to decide. There is no perfect solution to gerrymandering, but the grid-line method is a good place to start. The lines drawn would equally separate the populations of the state into fairly proportionate districts. Citizens can be confident that there is no intentional bias in the system. A step away from gerrymandering is a step back towards the democratic ideals that this country is based on.
Mike Thomas per 6
Looking back into the history of our nation, after being made aware that Gerrymandering has been in effect since the very beginning, I began to question how effective our democracy truly is. As the American economy continues to flounder, I also question how effective our congress really is. Did they just use Gerrymandering to insure they continue to get elected? How could this be possible in our nation to happen right before our eyes for over hundreds of years?
I feel as though it is up to the state to determine the boarders for elections, however who ensures that the state sets these boarders up fairly? Perhaps the current congressmen who are looking to get reelected in there district the next time around. I think that although this is certainly a huge step back in the effect democracy we support, it is not up to the courts to determine the boarders. The states have to have the power but there should be some federal help. I think the federal government should adapt guidelines to provide the state with in setting regions. The feds shouldn’t allow Gerrymandering to exist. Maybe Gridlines is a better alternative. The federal government should ensure that the guidelines are met by all states this way there way be a solution and a step back to what our country was founded on: Democracy.
Pat Winiarski
Gerrymandering is no more then another political scandal that crooked politicians use to ensure their political advantage in the elections. The current gerrymandering system that is used to divide the many different sections and populations of each state can show how politicians rig the system by grouping together the minorities and create many boundaries that are in support of themselves. This is done to reduce the chance of losing a seat in the house. This corrupt system also lessens the interest of many voters because usually their vote wont make a significant difference since the winner is already predetermined due to gerrymandering. The districts population is generally in the support of the same candidate therefore creating a safety net for the politician.
I feel that the federal government should require every state government to reinstate a new form of district division, i feel that a more fair and effective method would be the division of states into equal grid-lines, creating a non bias system therefore really giving the population the chance to vote on who they support without an unfair advantage in some cases creating more closer elections and possible candidate changes in the house. I feel that the state government should be in charge of the equal division of their state, and that the federal government enforce the change.
To call Gerrymandering unfair is an understatement. The very act goes against everything our nation was founded upon. Ideals of freedom to vote and choosing your representatives are pointless when politicians can manipulate the vote to ensure their own victories. It changes the political landscape from one of actually caring about the public to: what can I do to ensure I win next election?
Furthermore Gerrymandering completely taints the voting right laws of the black community and other minorities. Laws enacted to help minorities serve only to group them into veritable ghettos as far as districts are concerned, considering the staggering percentages of one ethnic group in such substantiated areas. The politicians who manipulate laws with pure ideals in mind are the same ones who continue to proliferate racism and prejudice in our country today.
But what can be done to solve Gerrymandering? After all it's been practiced in America for most of our nation's life. It's illogical to group people into random counties, as it still doesn't encourage equality. A much more logical answer would be placing limits on the terms of congressman and senators. Politicians in their original form were supposed to be volunteers for the community, yet have been twisted into careers specialized in backroom dealing and forsaking American ideals. Furthermore the ability for politicians to hold their posts indefinitely encourages partisanship rather than any possibility of compromise. Presidential terms were originally not limited by term numbers, which were eventually recognized as necessities. The same can be said of other political offices. Term limits would force new blood to compete for spots rather than being guaranteed to win. It would allow for new ideas and fresh faces into our political process, making it a smart idea to combat Gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is an unethical process that takes place in our country in which the division of electoral districts brings upon manipulation for advantages towards specific parties or groups. It generally works in the favor of the incumbent parties to keep them popular and overshadowing the other parties in this way. There is a sense of unbalance that goes along with this manipulation. The party that is supported most becomes stronger because they have more votes, while the opposing side is seen to be weaker than they actually may be, due to less votes on behalf of how that district was split. Gerrymandering is unfair and needs to be stopped, but how can this happen if our country has followed the concept for so long in politics?
I believe that the federal government must address the issue of gerrymandering rather than the states. Yes, electoral districts are divided among sections within states, but the only way this can be fixed is if all districts were as equally portioned as possible. And the only true way for all districts to be proportioned correctly would be to have involvement from the federal government. It may seem unrealistic, but the government really should aim for dividing all districts to be as similar as possible. The government should first become aware with the population they are dealing with. They should come across a census to know the unique divisions of population in our country. There are so many people living in New York, yet not many in states in the Northwest like Montana. New York happens to be smaller in size with more people than Montana, which is huge compared to the size of New York. So the districts may not be as equal as they should be because of this, but it gives the approximation of the fairest divisions that can be made, solely based on population. It is important to keep a similar population in each division; the actual size of the district is harder to deal with. This is because the country’s population is spread in a weird way. If there is a similar amount of people in each district, then the votes should come out more fair than before. No party will be overshadowed because there is around the same amount of people in each district.
Lexi Koukos
Gerrymandering is unfair technique used by many politicians in order to win elections by messing up the polls and drawing districts to benefit their own interests. By doing so the government is taking away the opinion of the voter and they are taking away a freedom/right in the US. Before watching this video on "gerrymandering" I had no idea what it was,however after seeing this I feel that it is a very unjust way of polling and that it does not show an morals or values that the American people pride themselves on. The politicians come up with many reasons as to why they are protecting the minorities. This is because by choosing the districts that are shaped oddly, it can create an unfair advantage in favor of the politicians who get elected by the minorities. I personally believe that gerrymandering needs to be controlled by the state governments. However I also feel that the federal government should oversee the states to make sure that things are running properly. I think that the states should be the ones to addressing the issue on gerrymandering. I feel this way because in every state there is a different issue dealing with the elections. As a result they will need to be dealt with differently. For example, in Iowa, Connecticut and California, these are all different states who have very different needs when it comes to the government, so as a results their congressmen would need to address their states issues, and due to gerrymandering is greatly effected. I also feel that in order to get rid of gerrymandering, and in order to take action like Iowa had previously done, each state needs to have some sort of computer program that keep track of the minorities and majorities in certain areas and that will draw up the lines to equally separate the populations of the state into fairly proportionate districts. By doing so this would eliminate the issue of unfair Congressmen and their habits of drawing district lines to benefit themselves. Overall there really is no solution to end gerrymandering that in the end will benefit everyone. However by making little steps and trying to keep the government as fair as possible, we must try to keep gerrymandering at low levels and hopefully there will eventually be a fair government system once again.
Bella Guo
period 8
Gerrymandering is a serious issue that many people don't really seem to know too much about. It takes away one of the main powers given to the people in the constitution. The people's power isn't as influential when their votes are manipulated to keep a politician in office. It's all good for the US to call out other countries for rigging elections, but very few people realize that in some states, congressional office elections are rigged. In order for this issue to be resolved, I believe more people need to be informed about this issue. For example, in the video clips, one man who proposed a new way of drawing districts was simply ignored. Another reason this has become such a big issue is that the incumbents get to draw the new district lines.
To solve this issue, politicians' main concern needs to be the needs and wants of the people. Instead of being heavily influenced by lobbyists and donations from large corporations, they need to realize that in the end, their job is to protect the constitution and what values were put into it when it was made. Sure, the constitution might have given the states the right to draw their own district lines. However, the constitution also did not intend for Representatives in the House to abuse that power, so that they stayed in power. Just like all the other corrupt practices reformed in the Progressive Era, this age old practice needs to be out lawed.
Instead of giving the job of drawing district lines to the government, who are obviously going to be biased, depending on their party, the district lines need to be drawn by the everyday Americans. The states can then ask their Representatives if support the new lines or not, just like Iowa's system. While the exact system Iowa uses might not work every where, it can be tweaked, like it was in California, to make district lines based less on segregating by group, but more by segregating by geographical location. While the final decision should rest in the hands of the state, the actual lines should be drawn by a third party who has nothing to gain or lose if a certain candidate wins the election.
Gerrymandering is another disgrace to the American politics. The US is founded on the idea of democracy, and Gerrymandering contradicts that. Gerrymandering prevents the citizens from electing who they want to represent them in Congress. The whole process is corrupt and should be transformed. As shown in the videos, drawing favorable lines can almost guarantee a seat in Congress for the politicians. It can be predicted accurately almost 100% of the time. Gerrymandering takes the meaning away from voting in the first place, and it completely undermines the rights of the American citizens. Politicians should not have the right to make their districts whatever shape they wish them to be in order to secure their election or reelection. I think that the federal government should take charge, and say that enough is enough. The federal government should require a reform of such a corrupt system, but the details can be left to the states. The computer program presented seemed logical. It would completely take away the bias from Gerrymandering, and distribute the districts fairly. One and only positive outcome of Gerrymandering is the electing of minorities. It is hard to represent a minority group in Congress, and without Gerrymandering, the politicians’ chance of getting elected would be slim. However, the negative effect of Gerrymandering outweighs the positive, and it should be stopped in order to make the voice of the American citizens’ heard again.
Gerrymandering: the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible. This is the definition straight from dictionary.com. However the real definition should be ‘Gerrymandering: discrimination at its best.’ To say that this happens on a regular basis in elections is shameful for America. This is supposed to be a country based on democratic values, yet most states just sit around and allow certain political parties to win due to an unfair advantage. It seems the only state that actually cares about gerrymandering is California. They adopted several tactics to change the circumstances, yet as said in the CNN video, no difference has been made. It is easy to say that this system can be altered, but the reality is tough. To fix gerrymandering would uproot the American system that people have followed for years. If politics has shown us anything, it is that traditions do not change. Altering a process like this would take time and effort that many politicians just do not have. And if a politician is elected, then why would they waste their time fixing a discriminatory process that helped them get elected? It’s nice to think of ourselves as champions of justice and fight against gerrymandering. But then we would end up like those who are part of the council in California, stuck in a court room listening to people all day and making no difference whatsoever. Correcting gerrymandering would be a massive effort that’s specific to each individual state. It’s not the best system, but it’s the only realistic option we have.
Courtney McQuade:
In U.S. politics, Gerrymandering is defined as, “the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible” (Dictionary.com). In order to best deal with the rampant issue of Gerrymandering in the United States, districts should be set up based on population and should be redrawn by the same standards every 5 years or so to account for any significant population shifts that may shift votes unfairly. Allowing politicians to redraw the districts themselves leas to a great deal of bias and should be avoided at all costs to keep the election process as fair as it could possibly be. In the United States of America, everybody is supposed to have an equal opportunity; this should extend to all candidates and all of their supporters. The practice of Gerrymandering unfairly divides up the districts so that only certain votes matter. This is not a very good reflection of equal opportunity and it needs to be changed. Gerrymandering is basically a legal form of cheating and I do not believe that practices such as this should be allowed or facilitated in any way by the U.S. government, let alone practiced by them. If schools do not let children cheat in their classrooms, the United States government should not let its politicians cheat in their districts. This discouragement of unfair behavior should be carried over into adulthood and all that can be done should be done to preserve that equal opportunity that America is so famous for, the very ideal which we are built upon.
Megan McGrath
Gerrymandering is a serious issue that many Americans do not know much about; I know I knew very little on the topic before watching these videos. It takes away one of the main powers given to the people in the constitution and it is a disgrace to American politics. America was founded on the basis of the people have the power and voice in their government. The people's power isn't as influential when their votes are manipulated to keep a politician in office. It is very hypocritical that the United States calls out other countries and accuses them of rigging elections when in our own country founded on the people, in some states congressional office elections are rigged. It is become evident that Americans are very uninformed about their own country and its government. Therefore, to put an end to Gerrymandering, we must inform Americans on this issue so they raise their voice and put an end to it once and for all. As seen in the video, one man who proposed a new way of drawing districts was simply ignored. We can not ignore these people because we need all the voices we can get to make a change. Another reason this has become such a big issue is that the incumbents get to draw the new district lines. Politicians' main concern needs to be the needs and wants of the people because they are serving for the people and represent their needs; rather than being heavily influenced by lobbyists and donations from large corporations. Politicians must realize that currently they are not doing their jobs of protecting the constitution, its values, and the rights of the people. This is something they need to change. Although the constitution does give the states the right to draw their own district lines; it was not intended that Representatives in the House to abuse that power, so that they can stay in power. As we have discussed in class, the constitution needs to be adapted to fit our time period and the people that are being represented. Therefore, as seen in the past such as in the Progressive Era, this corrupt practice and injustice should be put to an end. Maybe the district lines should even be drawn by the everyday Americans to avoid government members bias. This third party member has nothing to lose or gain by drawing these lines or if a certain candidate wins or loses the election. However, the final decision should be up to the states, such as they ask their Representatives if support the new lines or not, as seen in Iowa's system. While the exact system Iowa uses might not work every where, it can be tweaked and hopefully put an end to Gerrymandering.
Angela Yang
Gerrymandering is a very sensitive issued, that can be argued from both sides. The argument is that, gerrymandering allows representatives to run year after year and be elected, year after year. There is no diversity in the representatives that are being elected in certain areas. While this is unacceptable, sometimes Gerrymandering is beneficial for minorities, so that they also are represented in the House of Representatives. However in other cases, the black minorities are separated in three small districts, giving them only three representatives.
I believes that Gerrymandering should be addressed as California has dealt with it. By having a council to draw the lines of districts, the board can be more representative of the people's interests rather than the goal of the politicians to keep being reelected year after year. The board system may not be perfect, but it gives a greater voice to the people in the diversity of candidates that they will have to represent them. In changing times, America is no exception. To progress we must have change such as the california board. Gerrymandering by it's self is not a negative thing. However the way that it has been used by politicians over the years has made Gerrymandering into something that is no beneficial to the people of the United States.
Gerrymandering has long been practiced and even today, in what is supposedly a "fair" election it continues to exist. America was founded on the idea of democracy, and Gerrymandering fails to carry out that ideal. Gerrymandering prevents the citizens from electing who they want to represent them in Congress and in turn gives voter no actual say in the election. Gerrymandering defeats the purpose of voting, and it completely undermines the rights of the American citizens. However I believe there is no other way beside Gerrymandering. No matter how we decide to divide the districts we will still without a doubt create unfair districts. Biases tend to lean towards whatever party they desire and as a result there is never non-partial divisions. Furthermore, to change the districts drastically now would prove disastrous for the American people and for American government. In every state the race for representative will be ridiculously tough and it will shake up the entire house. The frenzy would no doubt get in the way of politicians actually doing their jobs and this is by far the worst scenario. Though Gerrymandering is incredibly unfair and in many ways unconstitutional, it helps maintain stability in the country and at a time like this that is what the United States needs the most.
Alfred Kroqi
Gerrymandering is a practice that is still in use today despite being unconstitutional and unfair. Gerrymandering is basically rearranging district lines to secure votes for political office for local officials. Gerrymandering rigs an election. People can not vote for whom they want but rather for who the state wants. This defeats the purpose of democracy, the ideal upon which our country was founded on. I believe districts should be set indefinitely ever few years by committees. This would help stabilize districts and be less of a distraction to officials. Gerrymandering distracts officials from actually accomplishing their goals because it makes them become more concerned with new voters they must appeal to. By creating a set district, officials can work toward their goal and people can vote for the official again if they are satisfied and if not, vote the official out of political office. This concept can be fixed. I believe it is an issue states should look at. I think the state government should be able to draw out district lines, the federal government has more important issues to focus on, but there should be federal guidelines regarding when those lines are allowed to be changed and the population that must be included in a district. All in all, gerrymandering is an unconstitutional practice that should not be tolerated. It rigs the elections and undermines democracy.
Gerrymandering is the practice of changing the boundaries of electoral districts which in turn helps or hinders a political campaign. This practice is used to unfairly give an electoral advantage to a particular political party. Gerrymandering is unconstitutional and goes against the principles of a true Democratic state. By allowing congressmen to set boarders for elections based on demographics, ensures that those same congressmen would be reelected in the future. This is unfair and should not be allowed. To solve this, borderlines could be set for elections by the federal government. Gerrymandering reminds me of old political machines who fixed election because of the favors that they granted. Back then it was illegal and today this form of election fixing should be viewed as unfair unconstitutional and should be made illegal
Gerrymandering is basically a form of fixing an election and should not be allowed to be practiced by congress men. For a country that says that it is built on democracy we should not allow gerrymandering to exist. This shows that our country is Hippocratic and holds double standards in which we assume that everything we are doing is correct.
jeffrey lee
Jesse Eddy
Gerrymandering is an unfair and unconstitutional practice. The states should absolutely change this unfair practice of changing the voting boundaries in order to sway the votes so that one party has a advantage. If it is illegal to rig an election than gerrymandering is illegal too. Why should one party have an advantage just because they won the election once. This practice also makes it so that people begin to feel there vote isn't counted because the changed boundaries virtually guarantees a win for the incumbent party. This practice is taking away from the democratic government ideas which our country was founded on. If the state governments do not take care of this problem then the federal government should solve this problem because it is very unconstitutional.
Trace Lange
Period 8
Unconstitutional, criminal, unethical, corrupt, these are all things that describe the evils of Gerrymandering. this problem is mostly confined to the state and local government, but it is very unconstitutional and is a problem that must be dealt with. this crime is very unethical and totally removes the citizens right to vote. The government officials who involve themselves in this type of behavior have the power of rigging elections and holding positions of power long beyond their period of popularity. I believe that the solution to to this problem of Gerrymandering lies within the states. The states and the states themselves are responsible for this crime. The states need to take some responsibility for this they should take actions and lay down the law, literally and figuratively. I feel that any act of Gerrymandering is punishable and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent for violating the rights of the people that these leaders represent. this act is one that is morally wrong and unfair and should be truly fixed.
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