@ISIDEWITHQuestionsDomestic Policy11yrs ago

Should the redrawing of Congressional districts be controlled by an independent, non-partisan commission?

Currently, the redistricting of congressional boundaries is controlled by state legislature every ten years. Gerrymandering is the redrawing of districts with the intent of benefiting a political party. It is most often implemented by state political parties with the intent of marginalizing districts of voters who represent the minority party. To gain extra seats, the incumbent party will redraw voting districts so that voters of the minority party will be grouped into smaller districts with less seats. Critics of gerrymandering say these practices allow incumbent representatives to choose their voters instead of voters choosing them. Proponents say that drawing districts is a privilege of the ruling party and have little effect on the popularity of their policies or candidates.

Answer Overview

Response rates from 95 Australia voters.

88%
Yes
12%
No
69%
Yes
8%
No
15%
Yes, gerrymandering gives an unfair advantage to the party in power during redistricting
3%
No, gerrymandering allows officials to more effectively represent the interests of their constituency
4%
Yes, switch to a multi-member, proportionally selected redistricting system
0%
No, there is no better alternative

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 95 Australia voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 95 Australia voters.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…3wks3W

Gerrymander No More: Democrats Push for a Congress That Represents All

The bipartisan task force would investigate structural reforms like multimember districts and adding more House members in an effort to address growing polarization and distrust of Congress.Over the last two elections, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has shown that she knows how to win in a largely rural, Republican-leaning district. Now, she’s proposing a bipartisan House task force to consider reforms to the current winner-take-all electoral system.The resolution, which NOTUS obtained exclusively, is cosponsored by fellow Blue Dog co-chair, Rep. Jared Golden, and is set to be announced by Gluesenkamp Perez on Tuesday afternoon.The initiative comes as Democrats have begun to look at Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez with wonder after both lawmakers defeated their GOP opponents in R+6 and R+5 districts, respectively, while Vice President Kamala Harris underperformed with just about every demographic.“We need that competition,” she said. “We need that urgency.”She added that one of her goals is to “open the field” and get more candidates with working-class backgrounds running for Congress, “to have people who have turning wrenches, change diapers, drive trucks at the table.”She said that, if members know they have “lifetime tenure,” they don’t have the urgency to do constituent casework and understand where the system is failing communities.Many of the electoral reforms mentioned as potential topics for the task force to investigate aren’t new. Democratic lawmakers have floated similar proposals for years, drawing little to no attention.Some of the proposals in this resolution for the task force to investigate include holding nonpartisan open primaries, establishing independent commissions for redistricting to prevent gerrymandering, to have congressional districts with multiple members and to increase the number of seats in the House beyond 435 representatives.

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