Barb’s Blog

ger⋅ry⋅man⋅der

- noun.

U.S. Politics. the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.
I remember the first time as a young girl that my mom read the local paper and how upset she got about the lines of our district changing. I didn’t understand then the implications. What’s the difference where the lines are drawn? It wasn’t until later that I understood that politicians can practically create their own outcome depending how lines are drawn.
Here it’s obvious someone has been playing around to ensure a democrat win in Michigan:

Neither Democrats or Republicans should be gerrymandering districts for their political gain.

According to the Grand Rapids News:

In a region long viewed as a GOP heartland, West Michigan Democrats are quietly dreaming they could send one of their own to Congress in 2012.

And while 32 straight years of defeat might say that’s crazy, a closer look suggests it might be more than fantasy.

The scheme hinges on a couple of key assumptions: That state Democrats will gain control of redrawing congressional boundaries after next year’s elections, and the 3rd District held by Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids, will be recast to make it a swing seat, evening out differences in party strength.

In one such scenario, the district includes most of Kent and Muskegon counties. It would tilt Democratic and could send its first non-Republican to Congress since Richard VanderVeen in 1974.

“Can it be done? Yes, it can be done,“ said Ida DeHaas, Democratic chairwoman of the district. “Certainly redistricting will have a big impact on whether it’s possible.”

Am I the only one who sees this as wrong? And if not, what can be done about it?
UPDATE:

Currently this subject is being made known by a movie called Gerrymandering

A deep look in to Redistricting the Nation shows state by state an obvious political weirdness in gerrymandering. Definitely worth a look.

Here is a list of organizations who are working on reform.