The Agony of Stupidity...Should we Make Gerrymandering Illegal?

Republicans know that if voting district lines were drawn as they should be, based on Census population data, results would favor Democrats. That is why years ago, when then DNC head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was asleep at the switch, the GOP started to make its move taking over state legislatures allowing them to gerrymander at will. That's where we are today the most recent action..."Justice Dept. sues Texas over redistricting, citing discrimination against Latinos."

This is the first challenge for Pres. Biden in legal action for redistricting; hopefully not the last. Here's the scenario...

"While the Supreme Court has declined to put limits on partisan gerrymandering, it is illegal to draw lines that are unfair to racial and ethnic minorities."

It, apparently, is clear in Texas that the lines have been drawn to put Hispanics at a

disadvantage in voting, which has been taken by A.G. Garland as a move to prevent a particular race from going to the polls. And from all indications, that would be right. This act is just a continuation of Republican moves on the Latino vote...

“This is not the first time Texas has acted to minimize the voting rights of its minority citizens. Decade after decade, Texas has enacted redistricting plans that violate the Voting Rights Act,” the Justice Department said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Texas. “In enacting its 2021 Congressional and House plans, the State has again diluted the voting strength of minority Texans.”

Eric Holder is getting involved as the left tires of GOP constant blocking of voting rights legislation, the reason for pressure on Merrick Garland to take action against cases like the move in Texas. Earlier it was required that DOJ had to approve redistricting maps to prevent discrimination. No longer the case, Texas is free to draw the line within the above parameters. Clearly, no one in the Democratic Party trusts Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, rightfully so considering his record.

And here is where we are today...

"But when the Supreme Court eliminated pre-clearance in Shelby, it effectively said that instead of the Justice Department judging whether states are passing discriminatory laws, it will be the courts that decide. Which means it will be the Supreme Court that decides."

Ari Berman: With Extreme Gerrymandering, the Republicans Are Rigging the Next Decade of Elections...

And with a solid conservative majority at SCOTUS, it's pretty obvious the decision we can expect. Joe Biden's commission on expanding the Supreme Court cannot decide currently if this is appropriate. One more decision like voting rights in favor of the GOP should certainly change their minds. Mother Jones says, "Republicans Are Rigging Elections for the Next Decade," covering activity in four states, including Texas...

• In Georgia, Republicans passed a new congressional map on Monday giving their party 64 percent of US House seats in the state...
• In Ohio, Republicans passed a new congressional map on November 18 giving their party at least 80 percent of seats in the state...
• In North Carolina, Republicans passed a new congressional map on November 4 giving their party between 71 to 78 percent of seats in the state...
• In Texas, Republicans passed a new congressional map on October 18 giving their party 65 percent of seats in the state...

Mother Jones adds...

"You get the idea. In state after state under GOP control, Republicans are passing extreme gerrymandered maps that will allow them to pick up enough seats to retake the US House in 2022 and lock-in dominance of state legislatures for the next decade.

This is clearly not democracy when a political party can rig elections, and so far into the future, to be able to insure they win majorities. This is a fight Democrats are losing, and I still say the reason is the left has not been aggressive enough in the past several years. It may be too late, which means simply, democracy will go up in flames in America. 

November Electoral College vote up for grabs?

It's arcane, outdated, the antique of American democracy. But, it elected Donald Trump in 2016, and threatens to do an encore in 2020.

T-rump lost the 2016 popular vote in a landslide for Hillary Clinton, 3-million more, but she lost the election. Common sense would tell us, if three-million more Americans wanted Clinton for president than wanted Trump, she should be sitting in the Oval Office now. I preferred Bernie Sanders but sure as hell didn't want Donald Trump. The year started off right for Trump but his gross incompetence in handling COVID-19 has opened the eyes of many,

CNN, The Point, adds in connection with that...

"two of the most prominent non-partisan political analysts in the country have released new projections that show presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden with a clear edge over President Donald Trump in the Electoral College map."

Now, what is the Electoral College?...

The count today is 232 electoral votes for Joe Biden, 204 for Donald Trump. States not included here because they are toss-ups today include: Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska's 2nd district. Those six represent 102 votes, which could be a big turning point for either candidate. The flip side is Biden appears to be getting stronger with the issues like health care, climate change, guns and economic fairness.

The other flip side is the new support of college-educated whites -- especially white women with college degrees, an area where Trump did well in 2016. And no one wants to have the devastation of American citizens account for election results, but it looks like Trump's incompetence in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic will cost him votes in the industrial belt in states like Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Gerrymandering and the Electoral College...

Here's an excuse for the Electoral Electors that almost makes sense. The framers were concerned that the public would not have adequate knowledge to intelligently vote for a candidate, thus, the electors who are supposed to intelligently cast the votes. Although the latter is questionable, it still does not consider the fact that the Electoral College has become completely partisan with the Republican gerrymandering in the last few years. That is the problem.

As the Recent Supreme Court sessions have revealed, constitutional text, history and structure do support that "electors were meant to vote freely." This, of course, could go either way in November, but, again, the direction seems likely to be GOP-sided considering the current structure of state voting districts, which are in favor of Republicans. But with the positive news, above, from two known political handicappers, lookin' good on the left.

No. Carolina case could halt GOP gerrymandering

July 18, 2019: BULLETIN News Bytes  

Republican gerrymandering case in No. Carolina

No. Carolina gerrymandering case

It could go the wrong way but Democrats are counting on a court case that "has the potential to significantly alter how political maps are drawn in North Carolina and could serve as a blueprint for legal challenges in other states."

Further...

"If the voting rights groups that have challenged North Carolina's state legislative districts succeed, the maps could be ordered redrawn in time for the 2020 election in a state that is closely divided politically."

GOP gerrymandering going down the tube

"A federal court has ruled that Ohio's congressional map is an 'unconstitutional partisan gerrymander' and must be redrawn by the 2020 election, reports National Public Radio. The Republican unethical ploy for keeping Democrats out of the voting booth is being axed all around the country. It is a result of the Dems allowing the GOP to establish strongholds on local and state levels while the dimwit Debbie Wasserman Schultz ran the Democratic National Committee.

States continuing the action are Texas as the fifth-most gerrymandered state, behind North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York. As I recall, this all started during George W. Bush's administration with Karl Rove as the head perpetrator. Now Ohio judges...

"agree with voting rights groups in their argument that Ohio's districts were 'intended to burden Plaintiffs' constitutional rights, had that effect, and the effect is not explained by other legitimate justifications.'"

In other words, Republicans were caught with their hands in the voting box. Which means that the Grand Old Party will stoop to just about anything to get its way. And we can thank this gerrymandering for many of the Republicans now in Congress. That is the reason to get all these cases through the courts as soon as possible so Democrats will have a fair shot in 2020. Of course that won't prevent Donald Trump with coming up with more bogus voting fraud.

Every ten years following a census the "boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn, in what’s known as the redistricting process," according to Vox. The process explained...

"In most states, the new maps are drawn by the state legislature and then approved by the governor. So partisan control of each of those three political entities is crucial. If a single party controls all three, that party can usually draw whichever maps they want without giving the opposition party any say. If control is split, a compromise will usually result."

Based on the above, you can understand how the Democrats fell behind and are now playing catch up. Can't say the Dems are the brightest bunch yet but trust they won't let this happen again.