So, the Supreme Court shot down parts of The Voting Rights Act as being unconstitutional. The act basically made it so majority minority congressional districts cannot really be altered very easily. Basically, I read it as “the other side of the tracks, the inner city or mostly black areas got a seat.” So those protections are gone now, and I think it’s a good thing actually, but likely not for the same reasons you might think.
I am not ok with removing a majority black district’s representative when the district will be sawed up like an example I give below. I do think it’s actually good long term, because as things are currently, you essentially created a fiefdom. Once that member got elected, they serve 40 years and essentially do nothing for the district. Then, as a result, falls into a state of disrepair. The other members won’t care about it, and the guy representing the seat may not even live there! In one such example, there is a blighted area near Watt and I-80 near the light rail stations. It’s a drug, gang, crime, and human trafficking haven. It’s been that way for probably 50 years. Think the representative cares? I don’t.
However, here is the part I do not agree with and do not like.
States have now decided to re-district their lines again. The mostly black districts are being whacked 3 or 4 ways. The intent here is just to wipe them out. Louisiana paused their primary election. Tennessee has taken 60% black Memphis and carved it up 3 ways. All seats are now Republican in Tennessee, net +1. South Carolina and Alabama appear to be on the similar path, could they wipe out both Democrats in Alabama? Seems to be tough. Plus 1 in South Carolina probably happens. Louisiana is likely another plus 1. I don’t think they can carve up New Orleans. Texas, California, and New York could do the same as well, now that the voting rights act is gone, likely not this year though. Note: CA & TX redid their maps and made each party likely to gain 5 seats a piece.
I do not believe that our system of government intended for the lines to be redrawn more often than once a decade, since districts are drawn after the census. You should not be dividing up big cities or stretching districts to include swaths of rural areas. This dilutes the vote for both parties. Think about it, where I live, no Republican will get close to winning statewide. My congress seat is overwhelmingly Democrat, ditto with my state rep and state senator. No reason for me to pull the lever. It’s the same in red states. They essentially took the word “election” out and replaced with controllable seat. It also needlessly dilutes the vote. California, like Texas and New York has lots of registered voters from the other party. Check out what Virgina was trying to do; redraw every seat to be safe for the blue team. Tennessee is now safe for the red team.
In closing, I actually think it’s odd that this practice has taken over. It used to be you basically kept the district lines the same, maybe you added or lost a seat and re-jiggering happened. Then there was a push for independent committees to do it. Now it’s rig this thing so no one will lose, and the other party will be locked out.
The Chief
Editor’s Note: I have found here in Idaho that the vast majority of Democrats have registered as Republicans. They run for office as Republicans but vote with the few Democrats in the Legislature. The really odd part is that average Republicans are often ok voting for Democrats (or RINOs if you prefer) as long as the blessed “R” is next to their party designation on the ballot. My current “Republican” State Senator voted to allow boys to use girl’s bathrooms, opposes Idaho’s profile laws, votes for every spending increase, and opposed educational vouchers and other conservative bills. He has a good chance at re-election because he is getting lots of support from Political Action Committees run by large national and international companies. Oh, last election, my “Republican” Senator’s yard signs were often seen with signs supporting Kamala Harris and a ballot measure for Ranked Choice Voting. This what being a “Big Tent” Republican looks like in the real world.