How could the Republicans have won 55 percent of the House seats at the same time that Mitt Romney received only 48 percent of the popular vote? Did that many people split their vote? It turns out the answer is "no."Although the Republicans won 55 percent of the House seats, they received less than half of the votes for members of the House of Representatives. Indeed, more than half-a-million more Americans voted for Democratic House candidates than for Republicans House candidates. There was no split-decision. The Democrats won both the presidential election and the House election. But the Republicans won 55 percent of the seats in the House. This seems crazy. How could this be?
This answer lies in the 2010 election, in which Republicans won control of a substantial majority of state governments. They then used that power to re-draw congressional district lines in such a way as to maximize the Republican outcome in the 2012 House election. ...HuffPo
We've known this for a long time but haven't acted on it.
Now is the hour. We have to recognize that our elections -- our futures -- have depended on a system in which one party can have control over the entire voting system. The gerrymandered district maps have given Republicans a clear advantage; Republican secretaries of state have been the deciders about whether, how, when, and where voters are allowed access to the ballot box.
We feel the dirty hand of corruption on our ballots and there it is: someone else gets to decide our vote. This time around, it's Republicans who are responsible for a systematic, long-term channeling of your vote and mine to their candidates, like it or not.
Not just gerrymandering but vote suppression.
Although warnings of voter fraud generated far more discussion leading up to Tuesday's elections, enormous lines in many districts turned out to be the much greater threat to the process, as hours-long waits greeted voters in Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin and elsewhere.The delays have stirred questions about why the world's oldest democracy can't make it easier to vote, stoked accusations of voter suppression in minority districts and renewed the debate over Washington's responsibility to safeguard an efficient process. ...The Hill
Republicans will resist changing the current system. After all, they're in the catbird seat. But it has to be done. Republicans know that: Republicans, too, have suffered when the Democrats had it all going their way.
Now, just days after the polls closed, a number of Democrats say Congress should intervene to "normalize" voting nationwide and ensure the snags at the polls in 2012 don't plague elections down the line.
"This ought not to be difficult. This is not rocket science," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in a phone interview Friday. "We've got to figure out how to clean up federal elections." ...The Hill
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Juan Williams reports on California's decision to change the way California voters vote.
In 2010, a diverse group of the state’s biggest political stakeholders — including the California Chamber of Commerce, the AARP and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — united to support a ballot proposition creating a bipartisan commission that redrew the geographic lines for California’s congressional districts.
The proposition also changed the rules for the general election.
The old system pitted the winners of the party’s primaries against each other. The new system provides for the two candidates with the most votes in an open congressional primary to move on to the general election — even if they belong to the same party.
Last Tuesday’s election in California was the first under the new map and new rules.
And the results are shaking up the political status quo.
Out of California’s 53 House races, seven incumbents lost their seats as they ran in more diverse districts — in which candidates had to appeal to more diverse neighborhoods and political groups. ...Juan Williams, The Hill
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