It would not be too great a stretch to assert that the American public favors fair elections not predetermined by rigged devices such as gerrymandering. After all, fairness is a virtually genetic value pursued, if not perfectly practiced, in most… Read More ›
GERRYMANDERING
Miyares Myopia
A catchy news headline about money in Australian politics captured the essence of the behavior of politicians: “If You Can Get Away With Things, You Do It.” Pundits and political scribes are often inclined to remind readers in a sober… Read More ›
Beyond Our Border
NORTH CAROLINA Other than a common border of some 230+ miles, Virginia and the Tar Heel State are as different as their names. While the Commonwealth was able recently to rely upon its Supreme Court to draw political boundary maps… Read More ›
ICYMI…………………January 24, 1916
One hundred five years ago today, the Supreme Court upheld (Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad) the 16th Amendment and the Revenue Act of 1913, enabling the federal government to undertake necessary development and expansion programs without reliance upon the states…. Read More ›
Redistricting Postmortem
The Virginia Supreme Court announced the conclusion of its consideration of redistricting maps for the Commonwealth, terminating an unsuccessful episode of political cartography by the Virginia Redistricting Commission. Thus, the state may now enjoy (or curse) the judiciary’s result for… Read More ›
Democraphobia Redux
1 The Founding Fathers feared direct democracy as “mob rule” and crafted safety valves into the Constitution to ensure that rabble-led political forces did not consume the new central government or its state constituents. Notably, the electoral college process and… Read More ›
Proudly Hoi Polloi
1 Sometime in 2029, Virginia will again face the task of drawing political boundaries. The current Virginia Redistricting Commission (VRC) lies mortally wounded on the legislative books and, if memory serves decision-makers, it will remain in the legal sanitarium for… Read More ›
Is Two Really Sweeter?
Editors’ Note: This VoxFairfax article also appeared in the October 14, 2021, Cardinal News, https://cardinalnews.org/2021/10/14/is-two-really-sweeter/. The shenanigans convulsing the Virginia Redistricting Commission (VRC) were predicted by some critics, mostly based upon the dubious notion that a group of folks not… Read More ›
The Road Ahead
It appears that the Virginia Redistricting Commission (VRC) will not meet its timeline to produce a set of electoral maps establishing new boundaries that are supposed to endure until the next census in 2030, in effect, a 10-year legacy. The… Read More ›
Redistricting Commission Imploding
Republicans Reject Compromise and Democrats Walk Out Editors’ Note: Reposted from Virginia Mercury, October 8, 2021. Sadly, redistricting in the Commonwealth fell prey to the Virginia Way. Critics of the original legislation will crow; a hopeful citizenry will sigh with… Read More ›