Redistricting Commissions and Referenda

[Brittain33]

There needs to be a referendum. I can't think of an uglier gerrymander in recent memory. Even the 2001 districts were much better than this.

I could get behind referenda in both Ohio and Maryland on their horrible maps. I can't agree with unilateral disarmament but we need some kind of counter-weight to the legislative impulse to do the worst they can get away with. It doesn't matter if it's a single-party gerrymander or a bipartisan protection scheme.

[Brittain33]

Uh, we already have plenty of people as crazy as the Libertarians or Greens in Congress, look at the Tea Party and people like Sheila Jackson-Lee. Not to mention those fringe parties would probably only win about 2-3% of the vote anyway, and thus might not even make it into Congress depending on the threshold.

Right now, the House functions effectively as a partisan body. The swing vote is a member of the majority party who may represent an atypical district for his party; or there is no swing vote at all because of party discipline and the size of the majority.

I really, really, really don't want a situation where the House is split 216-215 and the balance is held by LaRouchites and Ron Paul as an independent.

[Brittain33]

Garbage commissions has not worked out well for New Jersey where the commissions keep implementing Democratic gerrymanders.

That said, at least there is a sense of honor in that municipalities are not sliced and diced.

NJ is a Democratic gerrymander? Someone is delusional.

The last two commission deadlocks in 2011 and 2001 for the legislative maps went to the Dem side. Both sides presented gerrymanders and the tiebreaker chose the Democrats' map each time.

In 2001, both parties agreed to an incumbent protection map for Congress so no tiebreaker was needed. They appear to be headed for a deadlock in 2011.