Common Cause has published this report, explaining that in many states, there are very few choices on general election ballots for state legislature. The report especially singles out eight states in which most state legislative races only have one candidate on the November ballot for state legislature. Those states are Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Illinois, Texas, and New Mexico.
This report is very important, because this problem gets virtually no attention from voting rights organizations. Unfortunately, the Common Cause report implies that the problem is caused entirely by gerrymandering. The truth is that the main reason for the lack of candidates are restrictive ballot access laws. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link to the report.
As a resident of one of those states – Massachusetts – I think that the report is correct to suggest that gerrymandering is a big part of the problem. Ballot access is moderately high here, but was reduced by an initiative in 1992. Yet, the reduction did not result in more competitive races. I think that legislative seats ought to be distributed among counties and large cities by a purely mathematical formula, and that legislators ought to be elected at-large, by preferential voting in those cities and counties that have more than one seat, as determined by the formula.
Proportional Representation has been around since the 1820s-1840s — i.e. going on a mere 200 years — but NOT in the DARK AGE regimes like the U.K. and various ex-Brit colonies — the U.S.A., Canada, India, etc. etc.
SAVE civilization from the BARBARIAN robot party hack OLIGARCHS before THEY start Civil WAR II and/or World WAR III.
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P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
BASIC 1st grade P.R. (NOT exact) —
Party Members = Total Members X Party Votes/Total Votes
I.E. PARTY gang responsibility for ALL of the laws on the books.
“This report is very important, because this problem gets virtually no attention from voting rights organizations. Unfortunately, the Common Cause report implies that the problem is caused entirely by gerrymandering. The truth is that the main reason for the lack of candidates are restrictive ballot access laws.”
When I made the exact same point, Politifact called it “half true” because they alleged gerrymandering was a bigger cause. Despite the fact that they made no effort to compare the degree of gerrymandering in the two neighboring states I was comparing Wisconsin to. It’s not like Minnesota and Michigan don’t also have overwhelmingly Republican and Democratic districts, but unlike Wisconsin they have all or almost all of them contested. Not barely more than half.
A.C. — The Donkeys/Elephants in the now fewer and fewer competitive statewide regimes make an effort to have robot party hack candidates in ALL districts — to get more accurate stats for doing the next rigged packed/cracked gerrymander law — i.e. in 2021-2022.
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P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
I like how “demo rep” never bothers to explain what P.R. and nonpartisan App.V. mean.
For the many IGNORANT folks on this list —
1. P.R. = Proportional Representation.
2. App.V. = Approval Voting.
Post the above on the wall and look at it for years.
Genius folks can do some internet research about them.
Sorry – no time for 10,000 word essays which are never read – except by useless polisci profs.
The rest can stay ignorant — like about 99 plus percent of the population.
The CRISIS is N-O-W in the USA due to accumulated rot by the gerrymander hacks – Federal, State and Local.
These are the exact states that should play host to third-party challengers.
The states with independent redistricting commissions are all in the West. But neighboring states such as Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado are just as “competitive” as their neighbors.