November 4th Election Postponed because of Gerrymandered Congressional Districts
Well, probably not. But according to Florida Judge Terry Lewis, this COULD really happen. Last month, Judge Lewis held that Florida's gerrymandered congressional map violated the state Constitution. This is based on the fact that 17 out of 27 House seats went Republican on the same day that the state as a whole voted Democratic (i.e. re-electing Obama). And just two days ago Judge Lewis issued a new order “suggesting, without outright concluding” (from the linked article) that the unconstitutional map may not be used in the upcoming midterm election. Florida's 2014 congressional election could actually be delayed.
In a rather telling response, Florida's top Republicans have indicated they won't appeal Judge Lewis' order; they're simply asking/groveling/begging him to delay the impact of his decision until after the November election. (Say NO!!!)
In other words, “Yes I stole these items, but can I still take them home with me? Pleeease???”
Nothing sadder than a bunch of sleazebags groveling and pleading not to be held accountable for their sleaze.
In Judge Lewis' order, he determined that Republican gerrymandering had transformed a bloc of four districts “from being four Democratic performing or leaning seats in early maps...to two Democratic and two Republican performing seats in the enacted map.”
Yup. And these four Florida districts are a microcosm of our national disease. This is exactly why the House of Representatives is dominated by Republicans even though, overall, a lot more Democrat than Republican votes were cast in the previous congressional election.
In Judge Lewis' order two days ago, he ordered the state legislature to “submit a remedial or revised map no later than noon on August 15, 2014...There is authority that both justifies pushing back the November 4th election date and suggests that logistically, it can be done. Under the circumstances before me, I believe that the law requires that I at least consider the possibility.”
Whether Judge Terry Lewis' order ultimately prevails or not, this should be a wakeup call to GOP sleazebuckets: Their slippery tactics might start coming back to bite 'em.
Labels: Florida gerrymandered map, Judge Terry Lewis, November election postponed
posted by Tom Harper @ 12:04 AM
10 Comments:
Just another sad example of the condition that the GOP is in. They think they have to cheat to win.
Based on the republican agenda of intolerance, oppression, and adulation of the Rich the only ways they have to win elections is to restrict who gets to vote and to manipulate the districts.
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Jerry: They don't "think" they have to cheat to win; they know it. They have no ideas and no record. Their only hope is to suppress the vote, gerrymander districts and flood the airwaves with billions of dollars worth of ads financed by anonymous donors.
Grung: Exactly. That's all they've got.
Mr. C: Thanks.
That true, they no record to run on. Their single biggest item has been trying, unsuccessfully to repeal the ACA. Now they are trying to sue Obama for delaying implementation off some ACA actions using executive orders while at the same time telling him to use executive orders on immigration.
These House republicans are fucking crazy. I hope the people remember this in November.
Jerry: Their lawsuit is based on Obama delaying the exact parts of the ACA that they had been fighting against and screaming about since 2010. If that isn't cognitive dissonance, I don't know what is. I too hope the voters will notice this in November.
If this Judge doesn't order this, the Republicans will delay this forever. Tom will be posting this in 20 years in a "remember when?" Post.
Erik
Erik: Agreed. I sure hope this judge doesn't start backpedaling on this, or say "OK, I'll let it go this time."
This is good news, and I hope other judges around the country will start reaching similar decisions about gerrymandering. Some of the districts looks like spiders or octopii... it's disgusting. If more people knew about gerrymandering and complained about it, the House would be at least 50-50 if not Democratic.
Snave: I too hope this judge starts a trend and other judges will make similar rulings. Redistricting should be done by a completely impartial organization whose decisions are based on algorithms.
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