There is another post that addresses that segment on the Rachal Maddow show last evening as well. We cannot let this matter go. The issue is too important and we can't wait until the 2020 Census and hope the matter corrects itself. This is too important.

Everyone should check out the story on Rachal Maddow's website.

Governors will be elected in these states by legislative district vote. They will model the election plan after the electoral college, awarding one vote to each victor in each legislative district.

Via gerrymandering, they maintain their power with a minority of the vote.

Minority gerrymander rule.

The Congressional redistricting is legally challenged more often than not, and sometimes the courts strike down the redrawn plans as being unconstitutional. I'm worried about the situations in which it isn't. And it certainly seems to be happing with regularity now all across the country. Again, I've been growing increasingly more alarmed by the passing day at how indestructible these GOP legislators at both the local and national level are acting. They are acting like they're immune from the effects of even Kryptonite. I'd been passing it off as just posturing, but I'm getting the feeling more and more that they aren't going to back down because they won't have to. It doesn't matter what the little people think of them, because they don't need their kind of votes anyway.

This is beginning to have the look about it like South Africa did during Apartheid. Deeply, deeply disturbing.

What will these guys legislate next? Getting rid of citizens' right to bear arms. Sounds preposterous doesn't it? But can a system rigged to promote its ascendance and to fix its place in perpetuity afford to have an armed and hostile populace? Just asking.

Illinois for example was heavily Gerrymandered to benefit Democrats. Are you willing to give up Tammy Duckworth for the sake of non-partisan redistricting?


(nb - I am, just want to point out the legislative redistricting gets played with by both Parties).

Many of these states are one election away from a reversal of the parties controlling the state legislatures and governor. If that happens the new legislature and governor could pull a Texas Republican stunt and redistrict in the middle of the census cycle. Same thing could happen with the RTW legislation in Michigan. If the Democrats regain control with the help of outraged unions they could reverse that legislation and redistrict as well to gerrymander the congressional districts in favor of Democrats.

We've got to make sure that they aren't able to follow through with it both by generating voter concern and defeating proponents of such ideas. The good news is that most voters, even in states controlled by Republicans, aren't generally in favor of such changes and most prefer things the way they are and/or see the GOP efforts as a naked grab for power. Not that we should rest on our laurels, however. Such an idea didn't go over well in Pennsylvania but I have a feeling that we're going to be busy beating down attempts at this kind of electoral engineering between now and the next *sigh* election.