Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #340: Tyrannosaurs, Bridges, Ballot Measures, and the Story of American Gerrymandering
As the nation awaits the final results in a few dozen House races, the subject of gerrymandering has once again reared its head. This little understood – and often misunderstood – process of drawing congressional maps has been a subject of discussion in state legislatures and activist enclaves since the practice began in the early 1800s. Both right and left routinely accuse each other of manipulating the process even while both sides openly try to make it work in their interest. Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a dispute in Louisiana over the question of racial gerrymandering and a citizen-led gerrymandering proposal fails in Ohio, the question of gerrymandering is once again in the news. Here to shed light on this most confusing American political process – or tactic, depending on your perspective — are my colleagues Mike Watson and Ken Braun.
- Columbus Dispatch: Issue 1 fails big in Ohio despite massive money advantage
- Detroit Public Radio: Voters Not Politicians: The Cons
- Capital Research Center: Michigan’s Racist Redistricting “Reform”
- Capital Research Center: The Myth of Non-Partisan Districts: An Experiment in Redistricting Reform
- Politico: Maryland court strikes down congressional map as illegal Democratic gerrymander
- Wikipedia: Chesapeake Bay Bridge
- FiveThirtyEight: Struck-down Maryland Congressional Map
- NBC News: Supreme Court takes up Louisiana racial gerrymandering dispute
