Gerrymandering suffered big, potentially permanent blows last night

[turbinetree]

The United States inches closer to being a democratic republic.
IAN MILLHISER
NOV 7, 2018, 11:00 AM

The biggest story of Tuesday’s election is that Democrats overcame Republican gerrymanders intended to lock them out of power in the House of Representatives. In the long run, however, an even bigger story may be that gerrymandering itself suffered a significant loss last night.

Michigan, one of the most gerrymandered states in the Union, overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment which provides that future legislative maps will be drawn by an independent commission. At the peak of its effectiveness, in 2012, Michigan’s gerrymander allowed Republicans to win 9 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats, despite the fact that President Obama won the state by over 9 points that year.

This victory for democracy is part of a larger pattern. Ohio approved a ballot measure last May which creates a Rube Goldberg-like series of obstacles to lawmakers seeking to gerrymander that state. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court struck down that state’s gerrymandered maps last January — allowing Democrats to gain three seats in that state yesterday. And one more large state will likely see its gerrymanders fall shortly.

North Carolina’s legislative maps are so aggressively gerrymandered that, even though the state frequently has competitive statewide elections, Republicans currently hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the state’s legislature. They lost those supermajorities in the incoming state house, but will still dominate both houses. After yesterday’s election, however, Democrats will control a 5-2 majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court. That means that they can bring Pennsylvania-style gerrymandering reform to that state.

https://thinkprogress.org/gerrymandering-results-democrats-midterm-election-d8d1e10dab4e/

[muntrv]

1. Other states should put this on the ballot to increase turnout in 2020.

[turbinetree]

2. Yepper, spot on.................get signatures in each state and ask for a ballot measure

start today not tomorrow ..............................November 2020 will be here before we know it......................

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. absolutely!

Drawing district maps should not be a partisan issue. Voters can put it in their state constitution and should be given that opportunity on the ballot at every election until it passes.

[fishwax]

3. great news!

[Jersey Devil]

4. Just looking at PA shows you what un-gerrymandering could do

NC was ordered to reapportion for this year's election but the courts stepped in at the last minute and said it was too late. It should be done by the next cycle and now we have Dem supreme court in NC to assure it. So even with the same vote split next time around we should flip red seats to blue.

[Wintryjade]

6. The 7 new Governors need to tighten up their election process for 2020.

Georgia and Florida really need to have a Democrat in there for their states.