Federal Court Throws Out Ohio's Congressional Map

FreeinChrist · May 4, 2019

A federal court has ruled that Ohio's congressional map is an "unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" and must be redrawn by the 2020 election.

In the ruling Friday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio argues that the map was intentionally drawn "to disadvantage Democratic voters and entrench Republican representatives in power." The court argues the map violates voters' constitutional right to choose their representatives and exceeds the state's powers under Article I of the Constitution.

"Accordingly, we declare Ohio's 2012 map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, enjoin its use in the 2020 election, and order the enactment of a constitutionally viable replacement," the judges wrote in their decision.

Good.

Ringo84 · May 4, 2019

This is great news. The first step to having a democracy is each citizen having a vote.
Ringo

nonaeroterraqueous · May 4, 2019

I'm glad they included maps. Otherwise, one would never know if it was a ruling against gerrymandering, or if it was really a ruling to promote it.

I'd like to see the same thing happen in my state to get rid of Democrat gerrymandering.

Albion · May 4, 2019

nonaeroterraqueous said:
I'm glad they included maps. Otherwise, one would never know if it was a ruling against gerrymandering, or if it was really a ruling to promote it.

I'd like to see the same thing happen in my state to get rid of Democrat gerrymandering.

What has happened is that the Republicans finally decided to do themselves what the Democrats had been doing for decades. Then, of course, the Democrats went to court.

Hammster · May 4, 2019

Ringo84 said:
This is great news. The first step to having a democracy is each citizen having a vote.
Ringo

We aren’t a democracy. But we should have fair representation.

Hank77 · May 4, 2019

FreeinChrist said:
Federal Court Throws Out Ohio's Congressional Map

A federal court has ruled that Ohio's congressional map is an "unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" and must be redrawn by the 2020 election.

In the ruling Friday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio argues that the map was intentionally drawn "to disadvantage Democratic voters and entrench Republican representatives in power." The court argues the map violates voters' constitutional right to choose their representatives and exceeds the state's powers under Article I of the Constitution.

"Accordingly, we declare Ohio's 2012 map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, enjoin its use in the 2020 election, and order the enactment of a constitutionally viable replacement," the judges wrote in their decision.

Good.

I don't know. When looking at the 538 website's interactive congressional district maps I'm not sure Ohio Dems. are doing themselves any favors.
Ohio - The Atlas Of Redistricting

mark kennedy · May 4, 2019

About time.

variant · May 4, 2019

Hammster said:
We aren’t a democracy. But we should have fair representation.

A democratic republic is based upon having fair representation.

Hammster · May 4, 2019

variant said:
A democratic republic is based upon having fair representation.

We are a representative republic.

iluvatar5150 · May 4, 2019

Albion said:
What has happened is that the Republicans finally decided to do themselves what the Democrats had been doing for decades. Then, of course, the Democrats went to court.

Everybody did it for decades, then the Republicans went and got really, really good at it.

As distasteful as it may have been, targeting cost-effective local elections with the goal of gerrymandering was a stroke of genius.

JackRT · May 4, 2019

Gerrymandering of any sort is a clear attempt to subvert the will of the people.

Albion · May 4, 2019

iluvatar5150 said:
Everybody did it for decades, then the Republicans went and got really, really good at it.

No, a comment like that one is just silly IMHO. Yes, there no doubt have been cases of Republican gerrymandering but it is only now that there is a nationwide effort on the part of the losers to overthrow the elections of the past.

And each time there is such an effort, an impeachment, a fishy recount, anything like that, it produces a response in kind from the other side, the next time it gets the chance, so that in the end it is the country that is the weaker for the process.

JackRT · May 4, 2019

nonaeroterraqueous said:
I'd like to see the same thing happen in my state to get rid of Democrat gerrymandering.

Does your state have the same sort of ridiculous boundaries as were thrown out in Ohio?

hedrick · May 4, 2019

I agree that both parties have done it. That doesn't excuse it.

What's different now is that with the aid of computers, it's possible to do more extreme gerrymanders than in the past. The Federal courts have been pretty consistent in considering it unconstitutional, but I doubt the current Supreme Court will agree. I predict a typical 5/4 decision with democracy on the losing side.

mark kennedy · May 4, 2019

hedrick said:
I agree that both parties have done it. That doesn't excuse it.

What's different now is that with the aid of computers, it's possible to do more extreme gerrymanders than in the past. The Federal courts have been pretty consistent in considering it unconstitutional, but I doubt the current Supreme Court will agree. I predict a typical 5/4 decision with democracy on the losing side.

I wonder could this be considered a kind of gerrymandering?

Colorado has become the latest state — and the first swing state — to join a group pledging to elect presidents based on who wins the national popular vote.

Eleven other states and the District of Columbia have signed onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement that requires those states to select their presidential electors based on who wins the most individual votes nationwide, regardless of which candidate wins in the state.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Friday bringing the state into the compact. (Colorado joins effort to elect presidents by popular vote, go around Electoral College. Roll Call Mar. 18, 2019)

It would give Democrats a decisive advantage in Presidential elections.

USincognito · May 5, 2019

Albion said:
No, a comment like that one is just silly IMHO. Yes, there no doubt have been cases of Republican gerrymandering but it is only now that there is a nationwide effort on the part of the losers to overthrow the elections of the past.

And each time there is such an effort, an impeachment, a fishy recount, anything like that, it produces a response in kind from the other side, the next time it gets the chance, so that in the end it is the country that is the weaker for the process.

That certainly is an opinion. Not one based on reality and probably informed by large doses of talk radio, but it is an opinion nonetheless.

The fact is the Republican REDMAP strategy has been known for a decade. Karl Rove even bragged about it in a WSJ editorial. To pretend that only Democrats have been gerrymandering (they haven't because they don't control the legislatures in contested or red states) because they are "losers {trying} to overthrow the elections of the past" simply doesn't reflect reality.
Rove piece (behind paywall)
The GOP Targets State Legislatures
NPR story
'Gerrymandering On Steroids': How Republicans Stacked The Nation's Statehouses

It was never a secret. In 2010, the conservative political strategist Karl Rove took to the Wall Street Journal and laid out a plan to win majorities in state legislatures across the country.

"He who controls redistricting can control Congress," read the subhead to Rove's column.

The plan, which its architects dubbed REDMAP for Redistricting Majority Project, hinged on the fact that states redraw their electoral maps every 10 years according to new Census data. REDMAP targeted states where just a few statehouse seats could shift the balance to Republican control in the crucial Census year of 2010.

That plan worked spectacularly. It's why today Republicans have a majority in nearly two-thirds of the country's state legislative chambers. And it's why in 2012 Democratic statehouse candidates won 51 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania, which voted for Barack Obama in the presidential election, yet those candidates ended up with only 28 percent of the seats in the legislature.

iluvatar5150 · May 5, 2019

Albion said:
No, a comment like that one is just silly IMHO. Yes, there no doubt have been cases of Republican gerrymandering but it is only now that there is a nationwide effort on the part of the losers to overthrow the elections of the past.

And each time there is such an effort, an impeachment, a fishy recount, anything like that, it produces a response in kind from the other side, the next time it gets the chance, so that in the end it is the country that is the weaker for the process.

As @USincognito already pointed out, REDMAP was/is a very real thing.

REDMAP - Wikipedia
Episode 845: REDMAP

It even has its own web site
The RSLC Redistricting Majority Project – REDMAP

owned by the Republican party
| ICANN WHOIS
https://rslc.gop/

Fantine · May 5, 2019

Computers are now able to design districts to favor one party much more accurately than in the past. My state has a Congressional district that is divided in the middle of a small town (population, about 5000). The dividing line is Main Street. There is no reason why this should happen. The two Congressmen held a joint town hall in a diner on Main Street. (Both Republicans, of course.)

Our state is gathering signatures for a referendum in 2020 to draw election districts fairly with members of both parties and several people who have are independents (voters not registered with either party for at least five years) drawing the districts. We hope it will pass---although our Republican legislature usually tries to limit and undo referendums that pass, like one on the minimum wage. We had to fight tooth and nail so that the will of the people would prevail against their tinkering.

In Missouri last year, I heard a referendum passed to end gerrymandering, and the state legislature has taken it to court, saying that the people are not "educated" enough to make such a decision. More likely they have too much integrity...

variant · May 5, 2019

Hammster said:
We are a representative republic.

Representative and republic mean the same thing. We elect our representation via democratic means, hence democratic republic.

Hammster · May 5, 2019

variant said:
Representative and republic mean the same thing. We elect our representation via democratic means, hence democratic republic.

That’s only one definition, and anyone dealing honestly with my comment would understand that.

Federal Court Throws Out Ohio's Congressional Map

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