Category: Gerrymandering
David Williams’ Remarks to the Joint Redistr...
Posted by David Williams | Aug 5, 2017 | Gerrymandering, North Carolina General Assembly, Op-Ed, Thom Tillis, Voting and Elections
Capitol Hill event LIVE on FB, Latest News from FairVote
by David Williams | Apr 12, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Op-Ed, Our Elected Representatives, Take Action!, Voting and Elections
The gradual erosion of voter rights and voices has begun to undermine the foundations of a representative democracy. Please read this article from FairVote.org, the first-line defender of American Democracy, thoughtfully. It may well be the most important issue to resist this year.
Read MoreCorporations as Humans
by David Williams | Apr 2, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Op-Ed, Voting and Elections
The feature on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, on Mountain Stream TV, is a dramatized timeline of the history of how corporations incrementally gained constitutional rights at the expense of human rights.
Read MoreExtreme Gerrymandering & the 2018 Midterm
by David Williams | Mar 30, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Voting and Elections
This comprehensive study poses a stark warning to both courts and the public. What looks to be one of the most important recent midterm elections may turn out, in fact, to show how effectively extreme gerrymandering distorts American democracy and blunts the public’s voice.
Because of maps designed to favor Republicans, Democrats would need to win by a nearly unprecedented nationwide margin in 2018 to gain control of the House of Representatives. To attain a bare majority, Democrats would likely have to win the national popular vote by nearly 11 points. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have won by such an overwhelming margin in decades. Even a strong blue wave would crash against a wall of gerrymandered maps.
Read MoreNorth Carolina GOP motto: If you can’t win your case, rig the courts
by David Williams | Mar 27, 2018 | Chuck Edwards, Cody Henson, Equality, Gerrymandering, North Carolina General Assembly, Our Elected Representatives, Voting and Elections
North Carolina Republicans have been fighting for gerrymandered districts and suppressive voting laws for years. They’ve won too many victories. But they’ve also faced major defeats, principally in court. As Republicans await adjudication of a new round of critical cases—some dealing with their outrageous power-stripping moves against Gov. Roy Cooper (D)—they’ve changed their focus from laws to judges. Republicans’ sallies against individual judges are getting bolder (and more appalling).
Read MoreSo Many Possible Partisan Gerrymander Fixes, So Little Time
by David Williams | Mar 6, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Op-Ed
We here at Countable have been talking for a long time about the problem of partisan gerrymanders, where districts are drawn so as to guarantee that one political party dominates. Whether it’s Republicans in Pennsylvania or Democrats in Maryland, it subverts democracy.
Read MoreThe battleground keeps shifting under NC candidates. Here’s how that plays out.
by David Williams | Feb 14, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Our Elected Representatives, Voting and Elections
Having trouble finding the rage? Try this:
A U.S. Supreme Court decision Tuesday reset district lines for state House and state Senate. Barring further changes, the order means districts drawn by an outside expert will be used in Cumberland, Guilford, Hoke, Bladen, Sampson and Wayne counties. A panel of federal judges hired the redistricting expert, called a “special master,” to correct unconstitutional racial gerrymanders that the court said the legislature had failed to fix.
In Wake and Mecklenburg counties, the Supreme Court decision allows districts the legislature approved last year to be used for the first time in 2018 rather than districts the expert constructed.
With no time left for the state courts to intervene or hear a new lawsuit, the illegal districts drawn mid-decade will stand.
All we have left in defense for this upcoming election is our vote.
Read MoreVoting Rights Roundup: North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down GOP’s elections board power grab
by David Williams | Feb 11, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Our Elected Representatives, Voting and Elections
Gerrymandering: In an astonishing display of candor, NRCC chair Steve Stivers said what Republicans aren’t supposed to say about partisan gerrymandering. When asked why he thought the GOP might still maintain its House majority in November despite a Democratic-favoring midterm environment, Stivers said the quiet part aloud:
But the first reason, he says, is a factor everyone knows about, but which Republicans rarely tout out loud: “I think it starts with the congressional lines,” Stivers said, pointing to the successful gerrymandering after 2010. Later, asked whether that validates Democrats’ argument that Republicans have tilted elections to their advantage, Stivers shrugged off the criticism: “You can say that, but the people elected them.”
The Year of Reckoning for Gerrymandering
by David Williams | Feb 5, 2018 | Gerrymandering, North Carolina General Assembly, Voting and Elections
The message from the courts and the public is clear: we need fair redistricting now.
“I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats, because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats,” Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett) told his redistricting committee in February of 2016.
In power struggle with GOP lawmakers, Cooper wins election board revamp lawsuit
by David Williams | Jan 28, 2018 | Gerrymandering, North Carolina General Assembly, Our Elected Representatives, Resistance, Voting and Elections
Attorneys representing Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders make their arguments before a three judge panel as Cooper contests a restructuring of the State Board of Elections and the Ethics Commission. Cooper contends it takes away too much power from him and he can’t execute his duties. Legislators argue it has the authority to remake the boards.
Read MoreN.C. SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN GOP ELECTIONS MERGER
by David Williams | Jan 27, 2018 | Gerrymandering, Our Elected Representatives, Resistance, Voting and Elections
“TODAY’S RULING REJECTS A LAW THAT AMOUNTED TO AN UNLAWFUL POWER GRAB BY THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY.”–Tomas Lopez, Democracy NC’s Executive Director
Read More
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