How Florida would look with fair districts

Is it that hard to create an algorithm to draw legislative districts after each census? Why do self-interested politicians need to be involved at all?

The answer to both questions is NO.

These programs and algorithms already exist. Brian Olson is a software engineer in Massachusetts who wrote a program to draw "optimally compact" equal-population congressional districts in each state, based on 2010 census data. Olson's algorithm draws districts that respect the boundaries of census blocks, which are the smallest geographic units used by the Census Bureau.

And as you can see, the states look A LOT better. Just look at Florida!

DESPICABLE. Judge says illegal, gerrymandered map is now OK for this election cycle

As usual, Floridians are kicked in the stomach when we're down:

A judge on Friday gave a victory to the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature, rendering a decision that effectively forces voters to choose candidates in November based on a congressional map that he ruled was invalid because it favored the GOP.

So a GOP-carved district that bobs and weaves 160+ miles through NINE counties and shoves every single black neighborhood from Jacksonville to Orlando into it will stand. This despite a clearly-worded CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, passed in 2010, that districts had to be drawn fair, compact and sensible without concern for demographics.

Beleaguered Floridians cheered the initial ruling from same judge throwing out the maps. The foremost experts on gerrymandering in the nation testified that these were the most blatantly biased maps ever drawn. The GOP had the audacity to submit the monstrosity through a a website for "public input" moments before the 5 am deadline through an FSU student who testified, under oath, that he never submitted it. (HE did somehow get a great job working for the House Speaker's brother.)

Documents were destroyed, all of the Speaker's emails were "accidentally" deleted, and internal data and drafted maps were shared with only GOP political consultants in clear violation of our state sunshine laws.

Activists brought the suit, because our overpaid, ideological Attorney General, Pam Bondi, wasn't going to do jack about it. I was proud because they not only shined a light on these cockroaches; they had them scampering.

What SHOULD have happened is a demand from Judge Terry Lewis that a nonpartisan panel or the Supreme Court redraw the maps since the legislature proved wholly incapable of following the Constitution.

What SHOULD have happened is the legislators engaging in such devious behavior should have not only been taken out of the process, but SENT TO PRISON!

But this is Florida....

The GOP legislature made very, VERY minor tweaks to the map, only cutting off some of the extraordinary appendages. Despite our state Constitution demanding that districts be drawn fair, compact, and sensible with no regard to demographics, we are stuck with pretty much the same map that the judge earlier called reprehensible.

You know this was a victory for the GOP because their leaders are crowing about how awesome this all is, while the Democrats are furious and vowing an appeal.

You can get mad or you can GOTV. People are fed up. Even people in gerrymandered districts like District 51 or District 53 are running neck and neck. Keep in mind that the GOP gerrymander the statewide races... so let's fight hard to throw our Rick Scott and Pam Bondi.

Your arrogance blinds you, Florida GOP. The state has suffered for 4 years under a Teabag regime, and we are leaning more left and getting more diverse by the day.

You can rule by lies and cheating only for so long. Enjoy your day, GOP. We'll be preparing for ours.

The Fight for Fair Districts in Florida

After you fill this out, email this to everyone you know: https://www.fairdistrictsflorida.org/freepetitions/

Fair Districts Florida is a nonpartisan and independent organization devoted to ending partisan gerrymandering in Florida. A similar measure was tried before in 2006, but was thrown out by the courts due to a legal challenge. The GOP legislature knew it would come up again and wouln't be able to count on another legal challenge, so in 2006 they threw all their weight behind the 60% amendment. Even with all their money and support, it was the only amendment that, ironically, didn't get 60% of the vote.

But it passed.

We need 60% of the voting public to vote for fair, independent districts. There is no state as bad as gerrymandering than Florida. Even though the majority of Floridians are Democrats, there are pratically no Democrats in the state legislature. The districts are drawn so poorly, that incumbents are re-elected no matter how bad they are.

Newspapers like the Tallahassee Democrat and the St. Pete Times are in favor:

The Florida Supreme Court opened the door last week to greater accountability of elected officials when it approved for the ballot a citizens' initiative to change how political districts are drawn. Now supporters and Florida voters need to make sure this important reform comes to pass.

The current system for drawing legislative and congressional districts is broken. State lawmakers have used the once-a-decade process to draw safe seats for themselves and members of Congress. The result is incumbents are rarely threatened, as evidenced in November when a big shift in voter sentiment translated to little change in the partisan makeup of the Florida Legislature and the state's congressional delegation...


The hope of the amendments' sponsors is if the voters pass the constitutional amendments in November 2010, the changes will be in place for the next redistricting in 2012. Bringing fairness to political districts will make elected officials more accountable and give voters substantially more power over the direction of the state. It can't happen soon enough.

Amen. We deserve better. We deserve fair districts.

www.fairdistrictsflorida.org

This is more important than any other issue or candidate that will be put before voters in 2010. Better legislators translates to better laws and more representative government.

And it starts with fairly drawn districts.

Play the Redistricting Game

FairDistrictsFlorida.org is a nonpartisan state committee working to reform the way our state draws Legislative and Congressional district lines by establishing constitutionally mandated fairness standards.

They have drafted two amendments to the Florida Constitution which it plans to put on the 2010 ballot through the citizen initiative process that would establish fairness standards for use in creating legislative and congressional district boundaries.

No matter which party has control of the legislature, that party's main goal is to protect its majority and the seats of its incumbents. This is called partisan political gerrymandering. It is like allowing the fox to guard the henhouse!

Our present system is one of the worst in the country. It permits politicians to choose their voters instead of voters choosing their representatives. Legislators use sophisticated computers, voter registration data and past election returns to predict how particular voters will vote in the future--then they place just enough of those voters to create Districts they can win. They don't even have to connect!!!

And we get options like this:



You can put an end to this stupidity and have real representation. Visit the group's website, play the redistricting game, and most importantly, sign the petition.