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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Settles On Gerrymandering as the Newest Way to Steal Your Vote
Gerrymander:
1. manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class.
2. achieve (a result) by such manipulation: a total freedom to gerrymander the results
ORIGIN: Early 19th century. From the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts + salamander, from the supposed similarity between a salamander and the shape of a new voting district on a map drawn when he was in office (1812), the creation of which was felt to favor his party. The map (with claws, wings, and fangs added), was published in the Boston Weekly Messenger, with the title The Gerry-mander.
What do Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin all have in common? At first glance you might be tempted to say very little, but when you look more closely you will find that when it comes to current politics they have quite a lot in common:
1.All five voted for President Obama in the 2012 election.
2.All five have majority Republican delegations in the U.S. House of Representatives.
3.All five have Republican governors.
4.All five have nominal Republican control of the state legislature (all except Virginia have Republican majorities in both houses of the state legislature. Virginias state senate is tied 20-20, but since the lieutenant governor, who would break ties, is a Republican, control of the chamber belongs to the GOP.)
http://dailynewsfinder.com/2013/01/27/gop-settles-on-gerrymandering-as-the-newest-way-to-steal-your-vote/
This would instantly create extreme popular support to abolishing the electoral college, now whether a majority Republican government would allow that to happen without a violence is the question that needs to be asked.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)it undermines the one-man, one vote standard.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)Conservatoids have been doing this since before the civil war - liberals too sometimes.
Bryant
catbyte
(34,451 posts)particularly interested" in changing the Electoral College or the new pro-gun laws proposed by the bagger legislature. Those are the EXACT SAME WORDS he used when discussing the heinous Right To Fire legislation before he signed it. He is a creep and a liar and the most despicable politician that has ever disgraced this state, and that's saying something given the current crop of cretins starting with Jase Bolger who should be in jail for trying to rig the election for Roy Schmidt, who fortunately lost and the Democrats picked up his seat. Actually, he was a Democrat but switched parties at the last minute and bribed a kid to run in the Democratic primary. It was the sleaziest move I've seen in a long time, but apparently "no laws were broken", which I can't believe. Here's a synopsis of the disgusting shenanigans from last summer:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/18/1111354/-Jaw-dropping-election-fraud-by-Michigan-GOP-House-Speaker-Jase-Bolger