2018: Should the position on gerrymandering be heavily questioned by the media?

[muon2]

It was a position heavily questioned by the media in IL this last cycle and probably will be next cycle as well. The petition drive for a constitutional amendment that was rejected along party lines by the IL SC was fuel for the media questioning this year. The topic remains high on Rauner's agenda and the advocates will probably make another try at a petition drive. I expect Rauner will be campaigning on it in 2018, so it will be a point of focus for media questions again here.

[muon2]

It would be less of a problem if federal law did not mandate that underrepresented minorities^TM had to have their own safe spaces qua congressional districts.

If Dems hadn't used minorities to maximize their seats without giving some of those seats to the minorities there wouldn't be the federal law. When I saw some of the DKos maps in the last cycle, it looks like there are still many partisans who would return to that style of redistricting if given the chance. As long as there is bloc voting based on race or ethnicity it will remain an issue due to the 15th Amendment, particularly given SCOTUS interpretation that the rights are not merely to cast a vote but to be able to elect representatives of their choice.

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