At 08:11 AM 4/28/02, "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >How to rig an (American) election > >http://www.economist.com/world/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1099030 > > >Excerpts: > >All in all, reckons Charlie Cook, a political analyst, with four-fifths >of the states having issued their new district plans, there will be >fewer than 50 competitive races this time (meaning races in which >the candidates are only a few points apart) compared with 121 ten >years ago. Of those 50, only half will really be toss-ups. This is >worsening existing trends. In 1998 and 2000, nine out of ten winning >candidates in the House of Representatives won with 55% of the vote or >more. That was the lowest percentage of close races of any election >year since 1946, save one. In other words, redistricting is becoming a >glorified incumbent-protection racket. And that is having all sorts of >odd effects. > >.... > >So what, if anything, can be done? Some states already use alternative >systems that could be copied. Iowa lets civil servants draw new lines >without reference to incumbents or regional voting patterns (rather >as in Europe). Five other states hand redistricting authority over to >bipartisan commissions, sometimes with a neutral tie-breaker approved by >both parties.
Don't forget the states which are under Federal court order to draw some districts in such a way as to insure the election of candidates of a specific race from that district. -- Ronn! :) God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam� God bless America! My home, sweet home. -- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
