DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Gerrymandering Solution?

How can we solve the problem and make it equal?

Should it be on a county or zip code level or have multiple representatives per district?

What about using AI? https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/12/1031567/mathematicians-algorithms-stop-gerrymandering/

For one thing a president shouldn't be advising, promoting and requesting any state redraw their maps to favor himself. Never do I recall anything like that happening before.

A process has been going on for decades.

The Dems have used this the most. They are pretty much out of room. That said, the Reps have used it as well.

How to solve it? I don't know. I think a good start would be to take a close look at areas that have drawn lines that use a road to connect areas 60 miles apart. Some of these district are crazy. Some are thin and long, maybe stretch 100 miles or more.

Those are obviously drawn to split up voters to take away seats from one area to give to another.

The federal government should mandate that all states need to make a bipartisan map.

When we get a map both parties agree that the map is fair, then re-distracting occurs at and only at the turn of the century.
This will apply to all federal elections

ooo that's a good idea!

Jim Jordan’s district is asinine. I don’t know if you’ve seen a picture of it, but it’s a freaking seahorse. I’m sure there are others like that on the Dem side too, but his readily comes to mind.

The representatives should NEVER choose their voters. I moved from a “swing district” where the representative’s staff was very prompt at following up on issues when I contacted them. I would dare to say the follow up they had was almost too much.

I moved into Warren Davidson’s district and the dude doesn’t respond to crap. He doesn’t try whatsoever. Didn’t even say anything when the Nazi demonstration over I-75 occurred in his turf. He doesn’t try because he doesn’t need to. That’s wrong.

I think there has to be a bipartisan or a nonpartisan committee to decide.

Redistricing usually happens when the census comes out because some states gain or lose Congressional seats.

https://www.congress.gov/member/district/marcy-kaptur/K000009

She's from Toledo, yet she represents all of us out here in small town northwest Ohio. (by the way, I feel she's a good rep. Pretty fair on her voting. In other words, not a cra cra lib.)

That sounds great and all, but Ohio voters have passed constitutional amendments 2 times (maybe more but I think it was 2) to end gerrymandering, and Ohio politicians have just run out the clock on producing legit district maps each time.

And while we all love to pile on how CA is gerrymandered, Ohio has had a Republican supermajority off and on for a while since a controversial redistricting in 2011. That's why MAGA gets a louder and louder laugh from me when it's used in campaigns here in Ohio. Look who has controlled the govt in this state for the last 1-2 decades.

That wouldn't work. Districts have to change. Districts have changed for over 100 years. You could try to draw up bipartisan districts, but they would still change.

Plus, in todays climate, do you really think you could truly find a bipartisan panel?

Of all the branches of Federal government, US Reps are the most partisan branch of them all. They are locally elected. At least Senators and Governors have to pass a state wide election.

Then add that lines are drawn by state legislatures. Even more partisan.

I am not big on using voter percentages as that isn't a perfect way to measure things, but there are many examples of a group of voters in a state getting maybe 40% of the vote yet holding a small percentage of the congressional districts. I think some sort of reasonable balance needs to be in place.

We know the solution, a number of states have independent commissions that draw district maps. One of those is California. I won't vote for that bill, as it is the proper thing to do.

I absolute despise how gerrymandering has evolved. It is terrible.

A primer for those who do not know the basic methodology. Let's say your state is 50/50 with 16 votes. You structure your districts with 55/45 composition in your favor. 10 point margin, you should win. You structure the opposition party with 80 (or higher)/20 and concede those seats, Your party winds up with 12 and the opponents gets 4.

Easy to do with the political division between rural and urban.

Recently (...and I mean within the last year or two), Da Clems voted, when the adoption of a non-partisan redistricting committee was on an off-year ballot. The ballot made sense to me/us- and we both voted FOR. That ballot initiative failed in that election. Ohio citizens voted down that initiative... in a free and fair election.

What are fair-minded voters supposed to do- when a preponderance of Ohio voters choose the current gerrymandered map over something as common-sense as a non-partisan panel?

We (Ohio) had a clear shot at changing this thing. A recent survey of US states ranks Ohio as one of the ten most gerrymandered in the entire nation (Yay, us !!!).

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of American voters hate this s#, no matter which party it advantages:
link to more info


Nationwide redistricting commissions- in all 50 states.
3/5 red, 3/5 blue, one independent.

It may not be The Ultimate Answer... but it's at least a start at a cure. Adjust as required, going forward.


.02,
clem.

Should be based on strictly geographical districts.

Who drew up her territory?

I just put 2 and 2 together.... I'm up in NWO all of the time. I was up there last weekend picking up our 1/4 cow from Jacobys in West Unity.

I mostly agree. A district shouldn't be structured to connect a certain group of voters drawn down some roadway to to another group 80 miles away.


LOL...as the electorate changes we might start to see those "road connections" cut off .

I don't know. Do you?

I don't know. Do you?

I took a deer there once. No problems. Just decided it was cheaper to process it at home.

The amount of shenanigans that go down each time Ohio tries to do something about gerrymandering is honestly stunning.

https://www.businessinsider.com/pen...-donald-duck-shows-gerrymandering-2018-1

I rest my case.

...and it's the kind of blatant, in-your-face shenanigans that can't be denied.
I don't understand what my fellow buckeyes can't see... or don't want to see.

At some point, I am forced to conclude that those who voted down this initiative fall into two camps:

1. Those who don't follow the news, and voted for the loudest voices in their newsfeed
2. Those who actually think Ohio's gerrymandered map is a good thing

I can (somewhat) excuse Ohioans who fit box 1.
I will always actively oppose Ohioans who fit box 2.



Ohio actually had a chance to vote for fairly-drawn districts.
Ohio voted no.

That tells me all I need to know about the state that I've always called call My Home.
My Home is very different than the home I grew up in.

.02

A Republican majority. Here’s the Wikipedia on the recent history of the drawings. Notice the gerrymandering shenanigans and findings of unconstitutionality which were sidestepped.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio%27s_congressional_districts

And to be fair, that’s just Ohio. Illinois is the opposite. My favorite politician - Adam Kinzinger - basically lost his House seat because of redrawing districts.

It’s all BS. Sometimes let if the gerrymandering drawings are to hold the opposite party to a one district area instead of what should be two.

Dems will respond. Newsom pwns Trump.

I think you might want to look at this

Not sure it will change your mind on who does what and how much. But I think it might

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/top-gerrymandering-states/

I will state again, this is the very first time I have seen the president recommend and request a state gerrymander to help his party control congress. Gerrymandering is common sadly. A president calling for a state to gerrymander is not.

https://apnews.com/article/californ...s-trump-5ccb3de37f6d3ec803ac24ad363018fa

Donald Trumps MAGA America. Yay

You just don't like winning. You don't want anything nice. Boo

Honest question....

What about anything in that article would you say counts as 'winning'?

California does. Didn't you see what they're doing?

There is nothing good. With Trump and his shenanigans its a race to the bottom in a world where every issue becomes divisive, nothing is the fault of anyone in power, law and order is out of the window in favor of partisan politicization of the justice department .... And honestly the only way to beat Trump is to join him. Flood the zone and fight just as dirty and cheap as he does. Sucks for the USA but it has to happen or King Trump and Maga will continue.

I was sure which thread to put this in, so I picked this one because this happened when Newsom was giving his speech on redistricting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/us/newsom-la-immigration-agents.html

As the governor was preparing to speak inside the Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, the agents assembled outside, many of them masked and armed, and some wearing tactical helmets and carrying rifles.

————————

I cannot objectively see how this should be okay with any objective-minded person. If you are okay with this, let me ask: If Biden or any Dem had done the same in Texas, who is also a border state that is redistricting, would you have been okay with that?

Open to any counter arguments though. Wish FATE posted more.

I too miss FATE's witty banter.