On May 12, the Maine House tentatively approved LD 144 by a margin of 122-23. LD 144 would ask the voters if they want to shrink the number of state representatives, from 151 to 131. The population of each state house district would grow from about 8,500 residents, to about 10,000 residents, if the idea were to be enacted. The Maine Senate hasn’t voted on the bill yet. Even if passes the legislature, since it amends the state Constitution, it would need a popular vote. The motivation for the change is to save money.
This bothers me, although I do not live in this State. It will increase the number of people one person is responsible for — as constituents — which is one of the problems with the US House.
Q) Will this impact ballot access law in the State?
this is a cheap trick to exclude the maine green independent party from getting a legislator (again).
they are the only real or serious competitor in the portland area besides the democrats.
and it will so save so much money because of 20 people.
*sarcasm*
the good thing in the northern new england states is the representation. look at california what you get if you take this thing to the extreme.
I think this would be Great, Leave state employees alone for once. Every time the fall into the red they look to balance budget by punishing state employees.
Fewer gerrymander districts = easier to have minority rule gerrymanders.
P.R. NOW
Total Votes / Total Seats = EQUAL votes needed for each seat winner.
I guess over twenty incumbents are getting old and ready to retire.
Maine has about 994,000 registered voters. Using the cube root rule promoted by Taagepera and Shugart, a good size for the lower house would be about 100. (Using eligible to vote rather than registered turns out not to make a huge diffference.) So I can’t object to this very strenuously. But in places like California and Texas, which are outliers in the opposite direction, this is a very important issue. And at the federal level, the cube root rule recommends a House of Representatives with over 600 members, as opposed to 435.