Gerrymandered maps have kept the GOP in power in so many states, it’s refreshing to see that the will of the voters will actually count in some states again.
Live by the gavel, die by the gavel. In the end, the people will have the final say.
Originally Posted by Yssup Rider
No, it looks more like we're returning to the historical norm from 1946 to 1992, where the will of Democratic voters counts more, and in the end the Democratic politicians have the final say.
This is from the Brookings Institution, the premier think tank representing Democratic Party views,
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content...s_ch2_tbl2.pdf
Please look at the last column, the difference between "Democratic percentage of seats and votes won in the House of Representatives.
The table goes through 2018. In 2020 and 2022, the difference between Democratic percentage of seats and votes won was 0.7% and 1.2% respectively,
From 1946 to 1994, Democrats got more than their fair share of House seats in 23 of 25 elections. The average difference between seats won and votes won was a whopping 5.9%.
From 1996 to 2010, the Democrats advantage was more reasonable 1.4%, on average. Actually neither major party had much of an advantage over the other during this period when you take into account ballots that weren't cast for either Democrats or Republicans.
The 2010 census, and the subsequent redistricting, was a turning point for Republicans. They controlled redistricting in 27 states compared to 15 for Democrats, and more importantly took better advantage of new software and statistical data. As a result, from 2012 to 2016, on average the difference between Democratic seats and votes was -2.4%. Please note that Republicans actually had more popular votes in the House than Democrats in 2014 and 2016.
Since 2018 neither party has had an advantage. While it might appear gerrymandering, etc., has slightly favored Democrats based on the House numbers, when you take into account votes that went to Libertarians and others, the two major parties have been receiving more or less their fair shares of House seats, based on their popular vote.
But indeed as you pointed out in your other thread, it's likely that's about to change, as a result of unfair Democratic Party gerrymandering in New York. Hopefully (IMHO) we don't go back to something like 1946 to 1994, when the system was way out of whack, in favor of Democrats.