A Gerrymandering Attempt That Went Hilariously Awry
Via The Los Angeles Times:
“A terrifically amusing example of how even the best-laid plans of political manipulators can come apart at the seams reaches us from Columbia, Mo. That’s where property owners along a commercial strip plotted to create a voting district without voters, only to discover belatedly that the boundaries they drew actually included one lone voter–and she’s not in favor of their political goal.
Gerrymandering, or the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to benefit incumbents or their parties, is one of the most discreditable features of the American political system. Although district lines sometimes have been drawn to ensure that minority voters who are numerous but scattered can’t be deprived of representation, more often the aim is to disenfranchise the already powerless or to lock incumbents into place.
That’s what happened in the 2012 congressional election, when GOP control of key state legislatures, where congressional districts are drawn, gerrymandered the party into control of the House of Representatives. As Lee Fang of the Nation Institute reported, Democratic House candidates received 50.59% of the vote nationwide, but landed only 201 of the 435 House seats, or 46.2%.”
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