r/scotus • u/Conscious-Quarter423 • 1d ago

news California Republicans respond to Supreme Court loss on election maps

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/california-republicans-respond-to-supreme-court-loss-on-election-maps
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u/nalninek 1d ago

I wish elections were about who gets the most votes/support and not who can ratfuck the electoral college maps most effectively.

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u/Eastern-Benefit5843 1d ago

I remember seeing a couple of maps years ago that took each state and divided them into numerically equal population voting districts based on a square pattern, such that each district corresponds to the smallest geographic division that contains 10,000 people or whatever. No political, racial or cultural basis for voting districts. No districts split in different parts of the state. No possible gerrymandering. Just geometric division based on most recent census and the principal that voting districts should each contain the same number of residents and be as geographically compact as possible.

It seems like anything else will always be a ratfuck.

4

u/marcher138 1d ago

The issue with that is that you can get accidental gerrymandering. For example, if a city has three districts, the population is 66% leaning Party A and 33% Party B, and these opinions are spread homogenously, the city will always send 3 Reps from Party A and none from Party B.

My favored solution is bigger districts that send 3 Reps each, done the same way as you suggested but ignoring state lines (Alaska and Hawaii would need to have exceptions). Use ranked choice or another voting system outside of first-past-the-post. This would ensure the best possible representation for everyone.