Under legal pressure to address Wisconsin’s “Swiss cheese” and oddly shaped districts, the Legislature approved redrawn maps that promise to create a new dynamic in a state known for its pivotal role in national politics.

  • admiralteal
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    fedilink
    110 months ago

    I would say they ameliorated it. They definitely did not end it. The maps still likely advantageous overall to the GOP, and even if they weren’t… partisan gerrymandering will ALWAYS be a part of the system there until they modify the laws around it to, at minimum, establish an independent nonpartisan commission to handle future maps.

    There is no such thing as an objectively fair election map. Everything is a tradeoff. If you could truly design a flawlessly optimal map, then the technique you used to do so almost by definition replaces the need to even bother with having the election – just use your algorithm to pick the representatives.

    And no, there’s no future technology that will fix this issue. When you chose one place and not another to draw a line, either way it influences results. It is a value judgement which outcome is preferable – one the computer is simply not capable of making.

    You can only try to be reasonable and fair. So long as the process is fundamentally political, it cant be. Dems might be way better than the GOP when it comes to supporting fair democracy, but the Dems also have a long history of partisan gerrymandering when they have power. And even when the gerrymandering isn’t to achieve political goals, it will still do other unfair things like entrenching incumbency in a partisan system.

    Press the advantage and enshrine into law an independent and nonpartisan districting organization. Even this cannot possibly fix all issues with districting, but at least it can disincentivize the worst behavior.

    • @Batman
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      110 months ago

      Let’s all be our own districts