Republican Gerrymandering is Destroying Democracy

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Republicans War on Democracy began in 2010 when they began hyper-gerrymandering every state they took control of. Republicans injected $30 million, much of it from dark money, often targeting vulnerable blue state Democrats in races that wouldn’t otherwise draw a lot of national funding.  The plan was called REDMAP

 

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When the midterm elections were done, Republicans had gained unilateral control of 11 state legislatures, upping their total to 25. Between then and the 2012 elections, GOP lawmakers in these states had largely undisputed power over redrawing congressional districts. This helped allow Republicans to maintain control of the House, even though Democrats received over 1 million more votes.

The Republican State Leadership Committee issued a memo stating “Controlling the redistricting process in these states would have the greatest impact on determining how both state legislative and congressional district boundaries would be drawn. Drawing new district lines in states with the most redistricting activity presented the opportunity to solidify conservative policy making at the state level and maintain a Republican stronghold in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next decade.”

 

Through Gerrymandering, Republicans has made it almost impossible to be removed from office in some districts. Since they feel safe from being removed from office, they have no motivation to compromise. They are pursuing radical right wing agendas such as cutting assistance to the poor, cutting planned parenthood funding and passing anti-aborting “War on Women” legislation when the majority of Americans do not support these actions.

 

To Republicans, winning at all costs is a “Zero Sum Game”. They know the only way they can win, is if you lose.

 

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Republicans are destroying democracy by Gerrymandering districts. As you can see from the graph above, a disproportionate number of Republicans were “elected” in relation to votes cast.

 

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GOP Gerrymandering: Democratic Votes Not Matched By Seats Gained

Rachel Maddow shows four states in which Democratic popular vote victories are not commensurate with representative legislative seats because Republican gerrymandering has tipped the playing field.

 

The Republican Dominated Supreme Court “Justices” Legalized Partisan Gerrymandering by making sure Republicans can cement their stranglehold in States they control and never be voted out of office. This is how Anti-Democratic Authoritarian Fascist take over counties (such as Hungary) and Eliminate Democracy.

 

How The GOP Manipulated Ohio Elections

After winning single-party control of the state in the 2010 elections, Ohio Republicans set out to redraw the state’s congressional map to their advantage. What unfolded is one of the most egregious examples of partisan gerrymandering in modern history. Rather than working through the official legislative process which involved a bipartisan task force, Ohio Republicans and national GOP operatives rented a secret hotel room in Columbus, known as “The Bunker.” They designed a map that would give Republicans a 12-4 advantage over Democrats, when it came to “winning” districts, and therefore, congressional seats. This unconstitutional, partisan advantage is locked in until 2022, unless stopped.

 

Why New 2021 Ohio Redistricting Maps Are An ‘Insult To Democracy’

CNN’s John Avlon breaks down how the “rigged” redistricting process in Ohio is engineered to help the Republican Party achieve an electoral majority.

 

Democrats won 20 million More Votes and Lost

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The United States constitution is severely flawed when more often than not in the last few elections the majority of people voting for a particular party did not receive their relative representation. Democrats received 20 million more votes in the Senate than Republicans in 2014, yet Republicans won big.

The same occurred in the House of Representatives in 2012.

House Democrats out-earned their Republican counterparts by 1.17 million votes. Read another way, Democrats won 50.59 percent of the two-party vote. Still, they won just 46.21 percent of seats, leaving the Republicans with 234 seats and Democrats with 201.

Full article at egbertowillies.com/2015/01/04/amazing-democrats-won-20-million-votes-lost/

 

 

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Politicians picking their voters is unconstitutional. Gerrymandering is an assault on Democracy.

This is yet another example of how Republicans rig elections… how they don’t give a dam about the will of the American people and how they use tactics to win, regardless of how unethical and unscrupulous the tactics may be.

UNTIL GERRYMANDERING IS MADE ILLEGAL, THERE WILL BE NO DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

Related Articles:

Pennsylvania’s gerrymandered House map was struck down – with huge implications for 2018

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last month that the state’s US House of Representatives map was based on a Republican partisan gerrymander that violated the state’s constitution – and struck the map down. But the state GOP made a last ditch appeal to the US Supreme Court, hoping justices would stay the decision.

 

Florida Court Declares One Of The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders In The Country Unconstitutional – http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/07/11/3459082/florida-court-declares-one-of-the-worst-partisan-gerrymanders-in-the-country-unconstitutional/

Saving Democracy in Floridahttp://newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/saving-democracy-florida

The Great Gerrymander of 2012 – http://nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/the-great-gerrymander-of-2012.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0