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The United States capital has no skyscrapers – no building in Washington DC can be taller than the Capitol. The white domed building houses the United States Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate.
But in the federal United States, there are also legislative assemblies in the states. It determines what applies within state lines in everything from labor and environmental laws to abortion rules and gun laws.
It is also statewide as electoral districts are drawn, often with the House of Representatives in charge. The districts are redesigned based on the census that takes place every ten years, so that the population is the same in each area. In this way, each district and elected member (to the United States House of Representatives and the state) represents the same number of individuals.
The whole process should be a technicality, but it is politically explosive.
The latest census, Census, is currently in progress and has sparked debate since its inception. Then the Trump administration wanted to make changes that met opposition, primarily a proposal to add a question on citizenship, something that was supposed to reduce the tendency of undocumented people to respond. The administration was forced to relent after a court decision in 2019.
Other lawsuits are ongoing at this time, on the administration’s intention to speed up the bill. Lawyers and civil rights organizations believe this leads to the compilation being incorrect and the census being used as a political tool. So far, however, the administration has had the right to expedite the bill, with the turn of the year as the deadline.
Critics are also concerned about what will happen when electoral districts are drawn.
They know what happened last.
Relative to the last census in 2010, Republicans made great strides in the midterm elections that year. In many states, they won a majority in the power centers of the three states: local chambers of government, senates, and governorates.
The bet to win local elections were strategic and well used. When constituencies were adjusted, it was done in many places to create a political advantage for the ruling party, the so-called gerrymandering. Boundaries are then set so that one concentrates supporters of the political opponent in one area; or for their voices to become so diluted that they are not competitive anywhere.
Democrats have also been guilty of manipulation, but in fewer cases and not as consistently.
In some places, Republicans have denied that districts were designed for ulterior political motives, but in other states they are not ashamed – in North Carolina, for example, a state with a long history of stifling turnout and making it difficult to vote. minorities, Republicans have opened their intentions. Responsible politicians have said they designed the districts with “surgical precision.” The result is oddly shaped areas, often with “arms” sticking out in different directions, to capture pockets or stumps with a certain type of selector.
In North Carolina and many other places The district boundaries have led to lawsuits and appeals. The Supreme Court has raised several cases that capture the issue, but has thus far avoided the central question: Should redistricting be allowed for political gain?
Eric Holder, Barack Obama’s attorney general, is working full-time on how to make America’s elections more equitable, and the organization he works for has donated tens of millions of dollars to local candidates.
– The corrosive effects of Gerry’s maneuvers have contributed to stagnation and polarization, and contribute to the cynicism that many Americans feel about the state. Gerrymandering is an attack on democracy: We have politicians who cannot be held accountable, he said recently during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Eric Holder, former US Attorney General.
Photo: AFP
Before the election, the Democrats bet trying to bring in more legislatures in the states, to influence next year’s redesign. But the blue wave did not materialize and, in principle, the status quo prevails.
The successes of the 2018 midterm elections were not followed, and Republicans continue to control twice as many seats as Democrats.
In several key states, such as Texas, Florida and North Carolina, Democrats will be completely out of the process when districts are redesigned.
Can affect results to all elections until the next census, 2030. That was also the conclusion reached by Austin Chambers, chairman of the Committee of Republican State Committees:
– The election result places the Republican Party in a position where we can secure power across the country for the next decade. It was something that Democrats were desperate to achieve, but did not achieve in the long term, he tells Politico.
There are initiatives to create politically neutral districts, but they are limited. About fifteen states have special neutral commissions that set the limits.
