Virginia and Missouri voters--I just saw something on Reddit I wanted to pass along

[renate]

Maybe similar things are going on in other states too. I live in Oregon, where we get a voter's pamphlet and we can spend as long as we want to in the comfort of our homes, reading through the amendments and thinking carefully about our vote, but I assume this isn't true everywhere.

What I read is that Amendment 3 (in Missouri) is a sneaky way to try to allow gerrymandering. According to r/meandrunkR2D2 on Reddit, the first part is stuff that people would be for, but then a part is added that would allow the governor to appoint a group of his/her choosing to do the redistricting.

Also, here's a link from Common Cause.
https://www.commoncause.org/our-work/gerrymandering-and-representation/gerrymandering-redistricting/clean-missouri-initiative/
(The measure would:
Eliminate the position of nonpartisan demographer, who is selected in a bipartisan manner to draw state legislative districts, and returns the power to draw districts back to a redistricting commission that is handpicked by elected officials.
Eliminate strict protections against drawing districts for partisan advantage and allows one party to enjoy a mathematical advantage that would match some of the worst state legislative gerrymanders in the last 40 years.
Make Missouri the only state in the country to make approximately children and non-citizens invisible in our democracy by drawing districts based only on citizens of voting age. All states draw congressional districts based on total population and almost all of them also draw state legislative districts that way. No state excludes all children and non-citizens from being counted for redistricting purposes.)

The Missouri amendment seems like a pretty clear No vote; it seems a little vaguer in Virginia, although a Redditor called r/AmbrohamDrincoln says that the good stuff in the amendment was already passed and so the amendment being voted on now does nothing extra except allow gerrymandering.

[soothsayer]

1. Good to know

[stillcool]

2. Got to watch those things...

no matter where you are. Thanks!

[SheltieLover]

3. Please xpost to state forums!

Ty!

[renate]

4. great advice--thanks!

I only posted it to Missouri because the issue there seems much clearer than in Virginia, at least to an outsider like me.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[SheltieLover]

9. Ty!

Yw!

[hatrack]

5. Thank you for the reminder!!

[nitpicker]

6. VA Dems already sent out a flyer to vote no on this

proposal to encourage gerrymandering.

[flying rabbit]

7. +1 nt

[xmas74]

8. The MO amendment 3

Is an attempt by the GOP to recall CLEAN MO, which was passed in 2018 by over 65%.

CLEAN did exactly what the first 2 items listed did. It's the next few that had the GOP seeing red. One is the 24 months after leaving office before a politician can work for a lobbying or special interest group. The second is a total overhaul of the anti gerrymandering bill passed. That part currently states that all districts in MO must be easily recognized shapes according to a specific list such as rectangular,square,etc. This means that anything jagged,irregular or not on the list will no longer be allowed. The second part is the hiring of a non partisan organization by a bipartisan committee to evaluate and redraw all districts in MO, effectively ending gerrymandering.

Also in Amendment 3 is an especially sneaky passage about how redistricting will only use data from registered voters. This means nearly a third of the state will not count between children, the infirm, many students, military and those who've not settled residency.

It's a nasty piece of work meant to overturn the will of the people because according to my state senator Denny Hoskins " They didn't understand what they voted for (CLEAN)." He's a pos, btw.