Current Events > New House bill kill gerrymandering and alter America's elections

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/05/new-house-bill-would-kill-gerrymandering-and-could-move-america-away-from-two-party-dominance/

IF YOU WANT good job security, get elected to Congress. In 2016, the U.S. House had a 97 percent re-election rate, despite the latest Gallup poll placing the House’s approval rating at 21 percent.

A big part of the reason why is the way we elect our representatives. The U.S. uses a winner-take-all, single-member district system. Those districts are often drawn in a way to privilege one party over another — which is called gerrymandering. So if you’re a Democrat living in a district drawn to include a huge number of Republican voters, your vote is purposely drowned out (and vice versa).

And the winner-take-all, first-past-the-post system means that if you want to vote for a third party, your vote will often be “wasted,” as two parties compete to get the most votes and other votes are considered inconsequential to the outcome. If a candidate wins 40 percent of the vote, while her two opponents get 30 percent each, the first one wins, even though 60 percent of the district voted against her. That dynamic effectively forces political actors to sort themselves into two parties, or risk being boxed out of power entirely.

Gerrymandering, combined with the way voters have sorted themselves into cities and rural areas, means that even while Democrats consistently win a majority of votes cast for House candidates, Republicans wind up controlling the House of Representatives regardless.

A group of representatives in the House want to change this system, and are introducing legislation to change this system and make America’s federal elections more representative and competitive.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer authored and introduced the Fair Representation Act, which would enact a series of reforms designed to make our elections more competitive and open them up to more parties. Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have co-sponsored the legislation.

The bill would do three things: require all congressional districts to be drawn by independent redistricting commissions, establish multi-member districts, and have all districts use what’s known as ranked-choice voting (RCV).

The independent redistricting would take power away from partisan legislatures to draw congressional district lines, meaning that one party or another could no longer engage in gerrymandering.

Multi-member districts would mean that voters in each district would have the opportunity to elect multiple legislators to represent them instead of just one — which would mean that more people in the district would have the opportunity to elect someone closer to their own ideology rather than being stuck with one lawmaker who may or may not represent their viewpoint.

Finally, perhaps the most significant reform in the bill is RCV. Under this system, voters would be able to rank their preferences among various candidates and parties, rather than simply casting one vote for each office. If no candidate receives a majority of first-preference votes, then second-preferences are accounted for, and so on, until one candidate has a majority. Under RCV, you can vote your conscience without helping a candidate you loathe win instead.

RCV would make it so that there is no longer anything as a “wasted” vote — if your candidate ends up not being one of the top two candidates in the election, you can deliver your other votes to one of those instead. It would also force major party candidates to respect third-party voters and their ideas — after all, they would want their second-preference votes, and their third, and so on and so forth.

Lastly, it would eliminate the need for expensive runoff elections, as under this system the runoffs would be instantaneous.

---

RIP Gerry Mandering.
---

This is going to be doa when it gets to senate
---

I agree with this.
---

Good luck getting congressmen to vote for things that make it easier to increase the congressional turnover rate.
---

No way the people benefiting from this will vote to stop it.

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill
---

iosifsvoboda posted...

This is going to be doa when it gets to senate

This Fuck congress
---

iosifsvoboda posted...

This is going to be doa when it gets to senate

100% Regardless of the party in control, they'll always want to use it for their own political gain.
---

literal_garbage posted...

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill

Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer authored and introduced the Fair Representation Act, which would enact a series of reforms designed to make our elections more competitive and open them up to more parties. Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have co-sponsored the legislation.

---

literal_garbage posted...

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill

Username checks out
---

Doom_Art posted...

literal_garbage posted...

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill

Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer authored and introduced the Fair Representation Act, which would enact a series of reforms designed to make our elections more competitive and open them up to more parties. Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have co-sponsored the legislation.

I'm pretty sure they making fun of Trumps complaints that the Dems stop him passing his bills.

literal_garbage posted...

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill

Strong username to post ratio
---

Doom_Art posted...

literal_garbage posted...

Can't wait for the dems to kill another great bill

Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer authored and introduced the Fair Representation Act, which would enact a series of reforms designed to make our elections more competitive and open them up to more parties. Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have co-sponsored the legislation.

That's what they do, introduce bills like this just to further divide the country
---

Imagine complaining about a bill preventing gerrymandering.

I don't see this ever passing given the people who'll be voting on it, but good Arceus I hope it does.
---

Sounds good, but we really need to start expanding the House of Representatives again as well.

Democrats care about the people, Republicans want to maintain the status quo where the people are not accurately represented (and maintain a system that favors them)... So, as usual, Democrats are the good guys and people will bash them regardless.

The bill would do three things: require all congressional districts to be drawn by independent redistricting commissions, establish multi-member districts, and have all districts use what’s known as ranked-choice voting (RCV).

A. What prevents independent commissions from being bought out?

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

This bill will never make it to the senate anyway.
---

voldothegr8 posted...

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

what does the population size have to do with it?
---

voldothegr8 posted...

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

Is it even constitutional?

Questionmarktarius posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

Is it even constitutional?

If the Maine is any indication, nope.
---

Antifar posted...

IF YOU WANT good job security, get elected to Congress. In 2016, the U.S. House had a 97 percent re-election rate, despite the latest Gallup poll placing the House’s approval rating at 21 percent.

Sorta off topic but this has been explained to death. Yes congress may have a low approval but people tend to like their representative. Since we don't elect reps nationally these kind of reelection numbers aren't surprising.
---

Every state is made of counties, except the one that calls them something else.
Just build the districts along county lines. There. That was easy.

Or, just get rid of districts entirely. Your state gets this many. Vote for that many people.

Glass_Phantom posted...

Democrats care about the people

You'd have to be naive to believe this.
---

Gojak_v3 posted...

Glass_Phantom posted...

Democrats care about the people

You'd have to be naive to believe this.

They care about people voting Democrat, yes.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Or, just get rid of districts entirely. Your state gets this many. Vote for that many people.

Well then smaller population areas truly get screwed.

Gojak_v3 posted...

You'd have to be naive to believe this.

Hey, they ain't the side trying to take away healthcare, redistribute wealth to the 1%, kill net neutrality, and gut environmental protections.
---

So let me get this straight... congress has a 97% reelection rate, republicans overwhelmingly control the house, and a democrat is introducing legislation to fundamentally change the game to make it easier for other parties to win....

What a waste of time. I don't disagree with the spirit of it, but this is more dead than <insert abortion joke>
---

voldothegr8 posted...

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

It already does in Minneapolis. Maine voters approved it last November (only to have state gov't try to shoot it down anyways)
---

Questionmarktarius posted...

Just build the districts along county lines.

Counties, unlike congressional districts, aren't required to have the same number of people. NY has Kings County (Brooklyn), population 2.5 million, and Hamilton County in the Adirondacks, population 5,000.
---

s0nicfan posted...

What a waste of time. I don't disagree with the spirit of it,

Republicans spent six years trying to repeal Obamacare. Not because they could (they couldn't!) but to keep their ideas in public circulation so that, come election time, people knew what they were about. This bill won't pass a GOP-controlled congress, but that doesn't mean it's a waste of time.
---

Antifar posted...

s0nicfan posted...

What a waste of time. I don't disagree with the spirit of it,

Republicans spent six years trying to repeal Obamacare. Not because they could (they couldn't!) but to keep their ideas in public circulation so that, come election time, people knew what they were about.

Also a waste of time. Again, I get why they're doing it. I'm lamenting the fact that it happens at all.
---

Questionmarktarius posted...

Is it even constitutional?

It's constitutional for the States to choose it. I'm not a 100% sure it's constitutional for the Federal government to require it.

Just build the districts along county lines. There. That was easy.

No it's not. The nunber of districts and counties a State has are often totally different.

Gojak_v3 posted...

Glass_Phantom posted...

Democrats care about the people

You'd have to be naive to believe this.

No, I'm not.

I'm just not a cynic who believes the *only* reason people get elected is to line their own pockets. And I don't buy into the false equivalence put forward by people with hard-left and hard-right agendas.

The Democrats are the party of good. Not universal good; there are things they don't do right. But they are the better party by far. The Republicans are the party of selfishness, xenophobia, and backwards-thinking.

JE19426 posted...

No it's not. The nunber of districts and counties a State has are often totally different.

Oh, yeah: Texas has 254 counties. They do not have 254 seats in Congress.
---

Why aren't Republicans working against gerrymandering? The internet tells me both parties are the same.

I'd love this but....



iosifsvoboda posted...

This is going to be doa when it gets to senate

---

Antifar posted...

The bill would do three things: require all congressional districts to be drawn by independent redistricting commissions, establish multi-member districts, and have all districts use what’s known as ranked-choice voting (RCV).

The independent redistricting would take power away from partisan legislatures to draw congressional district lines, meaning that one party or another could no longer engage in gerrymandering.

Holy shit. This is amazing.

It'll be a surprise if it gets passed, though.
---

Doom_Art posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

B. RCV sounds convoluted for a large populace, changing around votes and shit? I don't think it would work in America.

Is it even constitutional?

If the Maine is any indication, nope.

I don't think the US Constitution actually details how people vote. Maine's issue was the state constitution.
---

I wonder how this will get spun into a negative by the people who will eventually vote against this. I'm sure they'll find a way. You have to be corrupt to be against this.
---

I think the Democrats need to go a step further. This shouldn't be statute; it should be a constitutional amendment. Anything less stands the chance of being eviscerated by the GOP-controlled Supreme Court on the pretext of the Tenth Amendment.

We Democrats shouldn't shy away from bold action. If I were running for president next cycle, I would propose a sweeping new amendment to encompass gerrymandering, campaign finance, and voting rights. If any Republican takes issue with it and declares Democrats are wrong for insisting our districts be unbiased and politicians prohibited from soliciting contributions from special interests, then so be it. Let that be the cudgel we bludgeon them with.

Antifar posted...

JE19426 posted...

No it's not. The nunber of districts and counties a State has are often totally different.

Oh, yeah: Texas has 254 counties. They do not have 254 seats in Congress.

That's why you glue them together. A district may be a dozen counties if they're desert or farmland, or it may be one if a bigass city is there.

Southernfatman posted...

I wonder how this will get spun into a negative by the people who will eventually vote against this. I'm sure they'll find a way. You have to be corrupt to be against this.

Yeah I'm seriously looking forward to it.
---

This has zero chance of passing
---

Glass_Phantom posted...

I think the Democrats need to go a step further. This shouldn't be statute; it should be a constitutional amendment. Anything less stands the chance of being eviscerated by the GOP-controlled Supreme Court on the pretext of the Tenth Amendment.

We Democrats shouldn't shy away from bold action. If I were running for president next cycle, I would propose a sweeping new amendment to encompass gerrymandering, campaign finance, and voting rights. If any Republican takes issue with it and declares Democrats are wrong for insisting our districts be unbiased and politicians prohibited from soliciting contributions from special interests, then so be it. Let that be the cudgel we bludgeon them with.

You can wax eloquent until you run out of breath. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds congressional majority, and frankly I think that's so far outside the realm of probability that it's laughable
---

UnholyMudcrab posted...

frankly I think that's so far outside the realm of probability that it's laughable

Yes, but we live in a world where a reality show host was revealed on tape talking about groping women and won a presidential election the next month. It's important to dream big, rather than confine yourself to "realism" and never accomplish anything
---

The only people against this are republicans who have to admit they cheat to win.
---

Republicans would never allow gerrymandering to go away.
---

The pipest of dreams