Our election cycle - or our election process, I should say, unfortunately for decades has continued to be eroded by partisan interests - and Democrats and Republicans both - instead of being worried on how do we deliver the best results for the people that we are representing are more worried about, how do I make sure I can get reelected, and how can I make sure my party gets reelected? In this lesson, students use an interactive tool to try their hand at drawing congressional districts. Corrections? Some or all of these techniques may be deployed by map drawers in order to build a partisan advantage into the boundaries of districts. And Republicans saw an opportunity to divide and conquer. FAHEY: Yes. Now lets split up the state into 10 districts that will contain 100 voters each. The goal is to draw boundaries of legislative districts so that as many . How did you see this law at work in the game? Let me tell you that the Voting Rights Act has the potential to really shake things up and frankly it is frightening to the Democrats. Very quickly, the Republican politicos figured out that if you drew three minority-majority districts, it meant that there were three incredibly Democrat districts, which meant there were more Republicans in the other eight or 10 districts. So the Republicans went to the African-American community, largely Democratic, and said, Lets make a deal. In South Carolina, blacks and Republicans are already talking about a crescent-shaped district through the southern part of the state. The alliance, when it comes to redistricting, between the Republicans, mostly in the South, and the African-Americans, mostly in the South, has been called The unholy alliance. Certainly, the Republicans knew what they were doing. I just need the opportunity to do that.. Republicans had a brilliant political strategy in 2010 called Project Red Map, where they tried to figure out what were the key congressional races or state House and state Senate races or governorships if they won in 2010 would make sure that the people drawing the lines and getting to make those decisions on what are these maps going to look like for the next 10 years would be Republicans. And you also saw a bit of that in Pennsylvania. Even with slicing and dicing, discriminating against white Democrats only moves the political dial so much. When I was in office, if you lived in this house you were my constituent. It was more compact now, but also much more Republican. Some states also prohibit legislative staffers and lobbyists, as well. Most state legislatures have primary control over both the state and Congressional redistricting process of their states. The physical impact of gerrymandering can be seen on any map of congressional districts. 2. - Facts, Laws, Pros & Cons, What Is Homelessness? Since a single party usually controls each state legislature, it is in the best interest of the party in power to redistrict their state so that their party will have more seats in the House than the opposition party. Both parties have always played the redistricting game. New majority-minority districts, where minority residents of voting age made up more than 50 percent of the population. Gerrymandering is the act of drawing congressional, state legislative or other political boundaries to favor a political party or one particular candidate for elected office . These are the easiest to predict Republican-controlled states will try to draw pro-Republican maps, and Democratic-controlled states will try to draw pro-Democratic maps. For another group of states those using commissions to redistrict partisan outcomes are more difficult to game out. Its one of the few trailer parks thats still in the city. The lines can get complicated, even for a seasoned legislator. kidnapping. Describe the two ways that officials gerrymander a district? Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
