Attention All Governors

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Some of these name on this list haven't been on the forum on months.  

Judging from this list, I think we might need a new census if we want to draw fair districts.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Using Wildcards's list, I get 17 voters in District 5, for a total of 91.


If we want to use this list, I say we start by switching NY (10) and NJ (5), which would leave District 1 with 18 voters.

We could then make District 2 ONLY NY (10) and PA (...for a total of 18.

Move OH, WV, and IN to District 3 for a total of 19. (or keep WV in District 2, it doesn't matter)

Move MD and DC to District 4, and move NM to District 5.  This gives both Districts 18 voters.

So we'd have:
D1 - 18
D2 - 18 (or 19 w/ WV)
D3 - 19 (or 18 w/o WV)
D4 - 18
D5 - 18

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

You're right, Pennsylvania has 9 voters, so 92 total.

My District 1 is contiguous to the same extent that Upper & Lower Michigan are contiguous...you can draw a straight line between them without entering any other states.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

You're right, Pennsylvania has 9 voters, so 92 total.

My District 1 is contiguous to the same extent that Upper & Lower Michigan are contiguous...you can draw a straight line between them without entering any other states.

I don't know if this is something we want to consider, but it's worth noting that my plan would move ALL the Senators from Districts 1 and 2 out of their Districts.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Quoting from Amendment 4, Sec. 3 of the Constitution:

Districts shall be determined by how many registered voters there are at the Forum. Each district should have nearly equal the amount of registered voters as the other districts have. All districts must be contiguous. No district shall have more than three register voters than another district.

Wildcard, your plan violates the 3-voter difference requirement.  My plan violates the contiguous requirement.   But when you think about it any plan will technically violate the contiguous requirment by including Alaska and Hawaii, and my plan violates this only very slightly.

Also, I think it is more important that we even the districts than that we abide by strict geographical requirments since geography has no actual meaning on an internet forum.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Another problem I see- Nick's plan puts Beet and StatesRights in the same district.  If they both want to run for re-election, they would have to run against each other.  Incidentally, Harry and Michael Z would also both be from that district.

There is not currently a Senator from Nick's district 1 (New England/New Jersey).

I suppose situations like this happen all the time in real life, when Congressional districts get redrawn.

This is true, and I would feel bad moving incumbents into new districts (especially those in my party!)...but I don't see how the populations can be balanced without making a district that is just PA & NY, and this pretty much forces MD & DC to be moved South.

I think we need to worry about the constitutional requirments first and the political consequences second.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

We should say they should be "geographical compact" rather than contiguous.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Using Wildcards's list, I get 17 voters in District 5, for a total of 91.


If we want to use this list, I say we start by switching NY (10) and NJ (5), which would leave District 1 with 18 voters.

We could then make District 2 ONLY NY (10) and PA (...for a total of 18.

Move OH, WV, and IN to District 3 for a total of 19. (or keep WV in District 2, it doesn't matter)

Move MD and DC to District 4, and move NM to District 5.  This gives both Districts 18 voters.

So we'd have:
D1 - 18
D2 - 18 (or 19 w/ WV)
D3 - 19 (or 18 w/o WV)
D4 - 18
D5 - 18

When you posted this were you changing my proposed map or changing the real district map? If the answer is the latter what happens to Virginia?

Virginia would be with the rest of the southeast in District 4.  I'm trying to post a map, but my FTP program is not working.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

From Governor NickG:

Governors, did we ever have a final resolution to the districts for this election?  

Someone please post a map of the districts that will be in effect for the upcoming election.  Some of the proposed re-districtings put Beet and StatesRights in the same district, and had a district with no incumbent (New Jersey-New England).

I think we will just have to use the regions as they exist now for this election.  There is a map in the "office holders" thread.

From Governor Wildcard:

read Gustaf's latest post in the Constitution sticky thread it sounds like it says all senators will be lected from districs to wouldn't that mean Mike is in Beet's district?

Now, if I read these correctly, NickG says we will use the regions map for the next election, whereas Wildcard says we will use the district map.


So which one is it?  And does Ilikeverin or GWBFan have anything to say?  

It's pretty much impossible to redistrict at this late date, with one Governor absent and another Governor not yet elected and the filing deadline in three days.

I think we need to run this election with the same regions we did the last election; it would unfair for the Sentators to  have to run in different districts in three straight election.  

And anyway, the current districts aren't really any more fair than the regions in terms of populations; they are all unbalanced.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I believe the amendment to the constitution makes it very clear that all senators will be elected from districts. So I believe we should use the current district map for all the races.

This would throw the Senate into chaos...the filing deadline is in three days, and if we change the districts/regions now, some races may have no candidates.  Plus we probably cannot get a majority of Governors in support of any change at this point.

The Amendment doesn't say when the redistricting need to be enacted...it is up to the Governors.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Looking at the District map again, it doesn't look like any districts are left vacant, or that this would impose as much confusion as I originally thought.  

I will withdraw my objection to using the old districts (as opposed to regions) in this election if that is what the other Governors want to do.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

If ILV supports it I agree we should consider it done.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I say we begin the census directly following the elections for a 2 weeks to a month then we can vote on a new district map.

I think 2 weeks should probably be long enough.
Also, I think anyone who votes in the upcoming presidential election should be automatically counted in the census.