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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down Pro-GOP Congressional Map As Unconstitutional

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posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:16 PM
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Well the courts have stepped in. I gotta say it's a pretty sneaky way to go about trying to win elections:


The Pennsylvania congressional map has been notorious since its first use, in 2012, when Republicans won (and have subsequently held) 13 of the state’s 18 House seats despite losing a majority of the popular vote. Republican legislative leaders made no bones about their skill in screwing over Democrats. That didn’t much matter until now, when the Pennsylvania Supremes have ruled that extreme partisan gerrymandering violated both equal protection and “free expression” provisions of the state Constitution.

Because the decision was made on the basis of the state, not the U.S., Constitution, SCOTUS is very unlikely to intervene to save the bacon of Pennsylvania Republicans.

nymag.com...

Technically this is all constitutional and SCOTUS appears to lean the way of this being a purely State matter (there's an ongoing dispute in relation to gerrymandering still with SCOTUS) but as this case in Pennsylvania was dealt by State courts, it's within their right as well.

Looks like a jigsaw puzzle:



Perplexes me how this can be allowed. This is a national issue and in the interests of the nation to ensure elections are carried out fairly.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:23 PM
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someone needs to fix it but who? both sides have been doing this for decades and i doubt either of them feel like changing it.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:24 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian

Take a look at a large city like chicagos voter district map.
It looks like a retarded monkey made them.
Anything to get an advantage.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:27 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian

They aren't the first or the last to attempt this...Many districts have been redone to gain a political advantage on both sides of the isles. Many blue inner cities comes to mind.









posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:27 PM
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a reply to: TheScale

Supreme Court leans the way of 'leave this to the States' so it's up to the State courts, which are far more corruptable in my opinion compared to those on a national level.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:28 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian

DP







edit on 24-1-2018 by GuidedKill because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:28 PM
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a reply to: Bluntone22

Yup. Too busy to pull it up, but it has all kinds of funny drawn districts that are clearly intended to give the incumbent an advantage.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:29 PM
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I’m surprised I hadn’t seen this on ATS yet... (I may have missed it if it is) The subject seems important...



My question is how do you redraw them fairly?

Is it actually a proportional or per-capita thing, or like a state electoral map? In theory?



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:30 PM
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a reply to: GuidedKill

I hope they continue tackling this issue against both sides.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:40 PM
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The exact same thing happens in Canada, who ever is in power usually re draws the electoral maps to try to win more seats.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 02:58 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian
It needed to be done, it wasn't fairly drawn at all.
If it was up to me, it would be done using county lines as much as possible. I live in the 6th District, with the 16th and and 7th Districts wrapping around me... very close.
It is whacky the way they drew the lines.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 03:09 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian

It's a tough call, it being a state or federal issue.

In one argument, you can acknowledge that the Constitution doesn't give the authority to the federal government to declare voting districts (and I'm sure that they would still look similar if it did), so the 10th Amendment should come into play.

On the other hand, the Federal Election Commission is responsible for ensuring fair elections, and gerrymandering is obviously the antithesis of being fair.

So what is the best option? I'd say that the FEC dictate that the districts must conform to county lines, for the most part. If the population gets too big in one county (as it tends to around major cities), then the division lines must be as straight as possible, using roads or natural features as dividers, resulting in as equal a distribution of population between districts as possible.

But heaven forbid elections be as fair as possible, and doing what I suggested is about as beneficial to politicians as mandatory term limits, so we'll all choose not to hold our collective breath until changes get made.


edit on 24-1-2018 by SlapMonkey because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 04:00 PM
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a reply to: Southern Guardian

Welcome to the future.

Marginalizing white Republican and Conservative voters.



posted on Jan, 24 2018 @ 07:20 PM
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How is stopping Republicans from cheating democratic voters "marginalizing' conservatives?!




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