According to Wikipedia, gerrymandering is the legal manipulation of electoral district boundaries to advantage a party. It could be cracking (diluting the voting power of the opposing party’s supporters across many districts) or packing (concentrating the opposing party’s voting power in one district to reduce their voting power in other districts).
That’s exactly what the Texas’ governor Greg Abott has tried to do. The Trumpetists have calculated that by redrawing the Texas electoral map they could gain up to five seats in the House of Representatives in Washington. Traditionally, a decennial redivision is carried out in conjunction with the census. The last census and redivision took place in 2021. So, why ? And why now ? Only by hack and biased calculation. Trump’s whim.
So actually, not gain, but steal…
And that’s why fifty-six Democratic members of the Texas legislature were forced to flee Texas, Sunday August 3rd, to seek refuge in New York, Boston, or Chicago. In this way, the quorum allowing the assembly to vote is not reached and the project is blocked. It’s not cowardice, it’s the use of last weapon any elected people has, obstruction. Which is usually futile and hopeless.
The state of Texas threw the police at their ass. This speaks volumes about the bad health of weak democracy in our beautiful country.
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August 19th
Texas Democrats have ended a two-week walkout that stalled efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl. The gerrymandered map has been voted with a police escorts to prevent a new redistricting walkout of the Democrats.
N.B : The example of Republican Texas could soon be followed by states with Democratic majorities, such as New York or California. Gerrymandering has still a bright future in America. It’s the beginning of a war.