Congress and Gerrymandering ( Week 12)

“What does all this mean? It means states can actually control the extent of gerrymandering. Take New York, for example. It's the one state among the eight that has shown a meaningful decrease in the level of gerrymandering across multiple congressional terms. New York also has also set up an independent advisory commission that recommends congressional and state redistricting plans to the state legislature. This commission was set up in 1978, and shortly thereafter the level of gerrymandering in the state peaked and has been declining ever since” by (Christopher Ingraham).

             According to the Washington post website, this passage describes the concept of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is when a political party has more districts according to the population on each state to benefit a party.  The representation of parties involves districts on each state. These districts are divided into parties which some of them have less people than the opposite party. Gerrymandering is seen because districts are divided up according to states population.  This means that those bigger states higher in population have the voice over other states. This is seen when electing a president or a candidate. Smaller states are in risk because their districts have lower population and their voice don’t count. Bigger states have higher votes because their party receive more seats than others. For instance, Texas is one of the highest in population. Its districts have a high republican population, which plays a big influence in the democratic party and other states.

            I chose this quote because it reminds me the 2016 election day. I usually work on election days as a translator. I was sure that Hillary Clinton would win because every time I assisted a person he or she voted for Hillary. I was so surprised when Trump won because most people in New York wanted Hillary. However, few people didn’t want Hillary because of abortion and same sex marriage. Although I don’t agree with same sex marriage, I think wanting trump because of banning these laws doesn’t make sense because same sex marriage is already legal. it’s not that easy ban that law because homosexuality always is going to be seen. Anyhow, this is a real example that New York is losing power because of those states that have a higher population and districts. It also shows that they could take control over New York because of the low population.