Republicans move forward with plans to gerrymander the Electoral College in three states

[herding cats]

Republicans move forward with plans to gerrymander the Electoral College in three states



Donald Trump just won the presidency due to the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote, but Republican legislators in key states are plotting to make our electoral system even less democratic. Republicans in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia have all proposed allocating one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district and two to the statewide winner, something that only Maine and Nebraska currently do. While this change might sound like a more proportional reform, Republicans have only one purpose in mind: gerrymandering the Electoral College.

How this works is simple: Congressional maps with 55 percent of districts were drawn to favor Republicans and just 10 percent for Democrats. Consequently, Trump carried a majority of 230 districts and Hillary Clinton just 205. Thus, Trump still would have prevailed despite losing the popular vote if every state awarded votes by district, as would have Mitt Romney in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2000. Under this system, Trump likely still would have won even without gerrymandering because he carried 10 more states than Clinton did.

Republicans will cynically argue that this change promotes fairness since a five-to-five tie in Minnesota and a seven-to-six Clinton edge in Virginia come far closer to proportionally reflecting the popular vote in each state than does winner-take-all. However, each state’s electoral votes don’t exist in isolation, and awarding them by district just in states Clinton carried only serves to expand Republicans’ Electoral College edge. If all three of these blue states had used this system in 2016, Trump would have won 12 more electoral votes, giving him a 318-to-220 majority.

New Hampshire Republicans could pass their proposed bill since they completely control the state government, but it would only swing one electoral vote there. More worrisome is that Minnesota’s GOP state house speaker threw his backing behind his state’s scheme, while a Virginia state House subcommittee already approved a measure on a party-line vote. Minnesota and Virginia have Democratic governors who could veto such bills, but the Republican-controlled legislatures could put the change up to a popular vote by referring a state constitutional amendment to the ballot in 2018 with a simple majority vote.

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/1625053

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. This is how great countries and empires die: rot from within allows outsiders to attack and win. .nt

[Cosmocat]

3. I truly hate this coubtry now

Because is indulges this kind of shit ...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. There are too many good Americans to hate this country. You have a lot more thinking to do, Cosmocat

[Cosmocat]

12. Yeah, ok

See, Trump, POTUS.

And, that just is the authoritarian cherry on top of the fascist shit sandwich that this country has been increasingly stocking into Congress, Governors and state legislatures over the last two decades.

We get our dog groomed by a girl in our neighborhood. Sweet, pleasant, get daughter is in school with our kids.

I stopped by to pick the dog up after she texted me she was done, and she has the radio blasting ... Laura Ingram.

I am in a service club mostly older folks. People who have done so much for our community, I love and respect them greatly.

9 out of 10 of them straight voting Rs. Hated BHO with a passion, would never have even considered voting Trump POTUS 2 years ago before he anmounted, everyone of them voted Trump.

It goes on, and on and on.

The neighbors on both sides of us are retired, very nice, we get along very well. Both hatred BHO with a passion, voted Trump.

I have been "thinking" plenty the last quarter century watching us swirl around the toilet bowl working to this point.

I got news, this isn't the low point.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Maybe you are in the wrong county, not the wrong country. . . nt

[Cosmocat]

16. That is the thing

I am very comfortable here, it's a great place to live. And, outside of politics, the people are great.

But conservatism is a virus that eats the soul out of people, it takes whatever element of the lesser spirit people have and amplifies it exponentially over time.

This country has increasingly given into it, and frankly where I live helps me to understand how pervasive it is in this country.

My inlaws are good people who have always been super good to me. But, they are country folks and are straight rs. Again, two years ago they would have wanted nothing to do with Trump, but they voted for him.

They know my politics, and we all just respectfully don't even talk about it.

Being in a more progressive area won't change the fact that 1/3 of this country is full on board with our virulent turn to an authoritarian, fascist state, 1/3 of this country (most "independents" and those that don't vote) are willing to stand by and accept it, and 1/3 of the country, us, see what is happening and are heartbroken.

And, that does not even factor in how truly useless our democratic political leaders are vs how insanely aggressive team R is.

[Mister Ed]

2. Minnesota's governer and/or voters will thwart them.

Governor Dayton will of course veto any such bill (Get well, Mark! )

If it comes to a ballot resolution instead, Minnesota voters will see through this canard the way they saw through the reasonable-sounding Voter ID resolution in 2012.

[wildeyed]

4. We should just start rioting now and get it over with.

Our country was started on the phrase "taxation without representation" and what do they do? Taxation without representation. This is soooooo corrupt, it stinks too high heaven. It is going to blow up in their faces, there is no doubt. We are AMERICANS. We don't like tyranny or kings. They need to fuck all the way off.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. The alt-right is hoping for riots. That's what fascists need to complete power grabs.

Got martial law yet?

Wanna make martial law permanent?

I'm not saying riots aren't needed sometimes as last resorts, but we're not even close to that point.

Further, wait till tRump's supporters start splintering and turning on him before really pulling out all stops on street action.

Riots? No, please, no. Let's not go there if we possibly can help it.

[wildeyed]

9. They are not alt-right, they are white supremacists.

Call it what it is.

Just observing what history tells us all. And recall that last time, the rioters WON.

Sorry, but everyone around here was all like "yay revolution!!!" a few month ago. I was strongly for trying to work for incremental change of the old systems. But we lost and the revolution is here, ready or not. So now we are playing a new game. They cannot make martial law permanent if too many of us if we all push back hard and early. The math does not work for them unless we allow incremental domination. Not advocating violence, but it's a new game now. I think people get stuck in the old reality and don't see how fluid and fast moving current events are right now. They do not play by the rules. We should not either.

"From great change comes great opportunity." The change is here and I am trying to figure out how to reap the opportunity.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Alt-right hard right fascist white supremacist old mean rich men & a few women. All bad.

But, yes, you are right: It's a new game now.

Good words to live by: "From great change comes great opportunity."

[uponit7771]

15. +1

[Va Lefty]

6. Will not pass in Va.

Democratic Governor. Not surprised at this though, I suspect similar bills will be introduced in Texas, Alabama and Georgia.

[yeoman6987]

8. Why don't we ever do this?

We can in Florida, Georgia and Arizona. Mic drop

[wildeyed]

11. Because we actually believe in democracy.

I fervently want every vote to count, not just the ones for my candidate. And that is a huuuuge weakness we as democrats and lovers of justice have.

I will avert my eyes and grind my teeth if we have to fire back like that. But I will not actively oppose. Perhaps the threat will be enough to dissuade them.

[UTUSN]

13. New Hampshire?- what *is* it with liberty loving New England? Minnesota?- progressive home?

[SticksnStones]

17. If I may adapt one of President Obama's pronouncements

You can have a country where republicans fix it so they run every county, every city, every state and every branch of government or you can have democracy.

Can't have both.

[tanyev]

18. Funny how they aren't trying to do that in any of the red states.

[VOX]

19. If this (and other) RW crap ever passes, elections will just be for show.

Should these ever make it into the books, that will signal the absolute end of our representative democracy. It's already teetering woozily.

[uponit7771]

20. +1