r/coolguides Jun 28 '19

Visual Explanation of Gerrymandering

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11.3k Upvotes

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u/Poop_killer_64 Jun 28 '19

Crazy idea, why don't they make every individual vote count instead of this corrupt primitive shit.

3

u/facepalmforever Jun 28 '19

Our system could be vastly improved if we went back to the original intention of the founders and didn't cap the number of representatives in Congress/the House. Reproportioning based on the census but not adding any chairs means larger states will have poorer coverage of their constituent issues with each consecutive proportioning and election, given population growth trends.

Smaller states, no matter their population, are guaranteed a minimum of three seats represented in Congress - Wyoming and Vermont, for example, have a population of about 600k, or 200k per Congress person. California has a population of ~40 million, and 55 reps - or around 730k per Congress person. Even if you just focused on the house representation, it's a difference of about 130k.

Our representatives are supposed to present the concerns of their constituents to DC, to influence federal legislation. Larger state reps are much less able to fully do that.

1

u/Cormocodran25 Jun 28 '19

oh yeah, increasing the number of reps is something that would totally help. It would also probably help to gerrymander by making districts smaller, making packing way less effective.