AP, Maryland Democrats begin advancing redistricting constitutional amendment
Democrats who control the Maryland Legislature began advancing legislation Monday intended to clear the way for a partisan redistricting process that could help their party pick up an additional U.S. House seat by 2028.I suppose after the mid-decade redistricting by states like Texas and Florida, we should expect revenge. However, both Texas and Florida refrained from eliminating representation from Democrats. Maryland, which is about 60:40 D:R was already heavily gerrymandered, with 7:1 D representation. I wonder if Florida or Texas would have time to steal another seat in return?
The General Assembly heard hours of debate and testimony on a proposed constitutional amendment intended to give Democrats greater latitude to draw congressional maps favoring their party, which already represents seven of the state’s eight House districts. The legislation was expected to reach a vote on final passage Tuesday, and the proposed changes to the state constitution would have to be approved by voters before lawmakers could begin considering new district lines.
Deep blue Maryland’s move is the latest turn in the national battle over redistricting, which kicked off a year ago and has reshaped the U.S. House map ahead of this year’s midterms.
Leaders of the General Assembly — who have been vague about their future plans for redrawing districts but in recent years have attempted to craft 8-0 maps — have characterized their proposal as an attempt to make sure Maryland is well-positioned to respond to redistricting by red states and contribute to efforts to elect Democrats who could serve as a check on the Trump administration.
The state’s Republicans called the proposed amendment a blatant power grab aimed at ousting Maryland’s lone GOP representative in Congress, Rep. Andy Harris.
“Gerrymandering is wrong. Whether it’s in a red state, a blue state — it’s just wrong,” said state Sen. Mary Beth Carozza.
The sole Republican district in Maryland is on the Eastern shore, dominated by fishing and agricultural. I can easily see a flotilla of watermen storming Annapolis from the water, and farmers surrounding the Capitol with farm equipment in response for losing their representation. That would be fun!
About 20 years ago, some computer scientist at some eastern US university developed an algorith that, i think, should be used to redraw every voting district in the U.S.A. If I remember correctly, it drew all of the inter-district borders, from city council level, through county supervisor, to state representative so that all of the populations were 'relatively' equal. It did so without regard to age, gender, occupation, wealth, or even voting record. All it was concerned about was counting every 'eligible voting age person' and making sure no voting district line crossed another voting district line, regardless of which electoral district it was.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the same people who draw up voting districts are the same people who have extended city limits three miles via a single paved sidewalk to reach property that they can tax but where there aren't enough informed voters to strenuously object.
Darn, all that editing and re-reading and I still misspelled algorithm.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the effort! It would be relatively easy to use a computer to make districts that reflected the voters, but where's the advantage in that?
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