Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering

I have never been particularly outspoken concerning my politics. It has seemed to me that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, me included, no matter how screwy those opinions may be. Unfortunately, some folks become annoyed when your opinions differ from theirs. Accordingly, I generally keep my own counsel in discussions of politics (unless, of course, I happen to know that a brilliant conversationalist like you agrees with me).

It may thus surprise you that I have agreed to assist a “political” project aimed at revising the Michigan Constitution. The project is an effort to put language on the next state-wide ballot that will prohibit gerrymandering. Don’t know what gerrymandering is? That’s no surprise. Our politicians hope that you don’t know. It’s another egregious example of politicians finding ways to take advantage of voters. Here is a quick review.

Elections are handled by states, that is, the rules and laws covering elections are established by state legislatures. Let’s say that in Michigan a new party wins an election by a slim majority. Since this new political party has captured the most seats in their legislature, they are able to set the boundaries of voting districts that define local political races. They simply propose and then approve a new state law that defines those boundaries. Of course, the new boundaries are beneficial to their party and injurious to the old party that just lost the election. What the new party does is establish new boundaries that have nothing to do with geography but everything to do with how many voters from each party live in a particular area. Their object is to insure that in the next election, their party will have a majority of voters in as many districts as possible. Nowadays, politicians have powerful computer programs that can predict voting trends everywhere in an entire state. With this knowledge, it’s a simple matter to define new boundaries for each voting district to their advantage. It’s like politicians choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their politicians.

That, in a nutshell, is gerrymandering. It has become a political force that can turn the tide of elections. Once a party becomes dominant in a state, it is very difficult to dislodge them. Of course, your local party headquarters doesn’t talk about such things. If you would like to learn more, consult the following web page; votersnotpoliticians.com/ Michigan.

One of my friends told me about the Michigan effort to defeat gerrymandering. I was hooked after reading the web page and so now I am a Circulator, promoting a petition to outlaw gerrymandering by changing Michigan’s Constitution. I see it as our chance to teach the politicians a lesson.