HOW OUR ANTIDEMOCRATIC FEDERAL SYSTEM SHAFTS DEMOCRATS

[eniwetok]

We already know that the EC has imposed a president on the nation, someone REJECTED by the People by a 2.9 million vote margin.

In the gerrymandered House the GOP gets 50 extra seats when they only won 1.34 million (1.1%) more votes than the Dems.

What about the Senate? If my spreadsheet is correct... using the July 2016 US Census estimate for the population of each state... (splitting the number in half if a state splits its vote) the
GOP Senators represent 144.1 million people
Dem Senators represent 177.2 million people.
Independents represent 874k.

In all three cases we see the GOP getting an advantage from an antidemocratic system. If the system was fair by democratic standards the Dems would have the Senate and the presidency... and the rabid right would would have 220 House seats instead 241 and the Dems would have 214 seats instead of 194.

When will Dems wake up? From past discussions here... I suspect never.

[moondust]

1. Gerrymandering

probably took a giant leap forward with the advent of computers, databases, and computer mapping. I think California more or less solved the problem using computer algorithms, but I wouldn't expect red states to do anything like that to promote true democracy. They have to cheat to "win."

[eniwetok]

6. In theory the House is the most "democratic" feature of the Constitution

Leaving aside gerrymandering, and winner take all, first past the post elections, the House is the most democratic feature of the Constitution. All the antidemocratic features are based in state suffrage... from the Senate, to the EC, to the Amendment process.

Yet curiously, in all my discussions on this over the past 15+ years... Dems almost without exception, refuse to support real democratic reforms but buy into their own disenfranchisement.

[Hugin]

2. The solution to this... Although, distasteful.

Is for a few million Democrats to register as "Republicans".

This would in effect mess up the little statistical racket the Baggers have going. The only sacrifice to the Democrats for doing this is they would no longer be able to vote in the Democratic Primaries... But, as a slight return, they can always vote for the RINO of their choice.


They should continue to vote Democratic in General Elections or whenever given a chance.

Okay, now I need a shower.

[eniwetok]

3. not following...

In looking at the House and presidential races I was looking at votes cast, not voter registration. In the case of the Senate I was looking at how many people a Senator might represent... giving them the entire population of a state in the case where the Senators were from the same party, and one half of the state's population in the case of a split vote. Another possible way of looking at how the Senate represents a state is looking at how many votes each received... but the low turnout in off-year elections throws that off.

[Hugin]

4. Well, you see, they use the Registrations as a means to calculate their Gerrymandering.

Last edited Sat Feb 11, 2017, 07:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Also, to track the voting patterns to come up with their voter suppression schemes. Like, Democrats tend to early vote so they would like to do away with it.

These voter suppression plans are put in place well outside of actual voting. Years in advance in some cases.

Without the self-identifying tag of "Democrat" on the registrations they lose a means of distinguishing (or discriminating against) one person from the rest.

[eniwetok]

5. now I get it... but....

I don't know if the GOP uses voter registration or actual voting behavior in Gerrymandering... and it's bit irrelevant to this discussion since the House, in theory, is population based... and gerrymandering is not a feature of the Constitution. On the other hand the EC and the Senate represent state suffrage... and this is where all the deliberate antidemocratic features of our system originate. But taken together... it's clear that our electoral system is incapable of accurately measuring the will of the People... and the political system is incapable of implementing it.... and Dems seem oblivious to how our system works against their own party.