Okay, I've seen the fun animal video about Gerrymandering. I understand what it is, and even why it is used. But in the video there is the character "Rat" (or "Ferret" I can't remember). He's the one they pay off to draw the lines. Who is that in real life? And why can this person be bought off legally to redraw district lines?
Reminder: both district maps are gerrymandered, even though the borders of the center one appear to make more sense. The only 'fair' outcome would be a 2-3 distribution of red seats and blue seats (achieved by popular vote), which would make sense here by dividing districts into vertical columns.
Tralan on September 4th, 2018 at 12:34 UTC »
Okay, I've seen the fun animal video about Gerrymandering. I understand what it is, and even why it is used. But in the video there is the character "Rat" (or "Ferret" I can't remember). He's the one they pay off to draw the lines. Who is that in real life? And why can this person be bought off legally to redraw district lines?
TheSameAsDying on September 4th, 2018 at 12:39 UTC »
Reminder: both district maps are gerrymandered, even though the borders of the center one appear to make more sense. The only 'fair' outcome would be a 2-3 distribution of red seats and blue seats (achieved by popular vote), which would make sense here by dividing districts into vertical columns.
ClaudioCfi86 on September 4th, 2018 at 13:04 UTC »
I look at this and think "just use precincts and not districts" but that probably just moves the problem one step.