There is a Georgia General Assembly special session, starting June 17, to address
- redistricting
- how we cast and count ballots
The nationwide trend thus far has been to disenfranchise voters. But the Special Session just states they are going to address ‘districts’ and ‘voting’ – and science has shown that there are methods to make both districts and voting fairer and more representative of people’s voices.
Let’s ask our legislators to do the right thing and show the country how it can be done.
One – there is a science to redistricting that can produce fairer maps. The key is to make the districts ‘competitive’ as possible so that both candidates have an incentive to serve their constituents. Comfort breeds compliancy.
Two – ranked choice voting. This method of ‘automatic runoffs’ where voters rank order all the candidates has also been shown to produce candidates and representation that tracks more closely to the will of the people and not drive us into extreme partisanship. Plus, it eliminates costly runoffs and increases election security.
How do we know if the proposed maps are fair? Check here – PlanScore.
The Science of Redistricting
The math is clear. We can do redistricting better. Learn more about it here – including a talk from UGA’s Dr. David Cottrell.
- Use neutral, non-political criteria like equal population, contiguity, compactness, and respect for county boundaries.
- Benchmark enacted maps against thousands of computer-simulated neutral maps. It could be that there are just more Democratic-leaning or Republican-leaning people in a specific geography. Fairness doesn’t mean there is a complete balance of power – it just means they did the best they could.
- Reduce legislators’ control over their own districts. Legislators have a vested interest in their districts; they probably would like to keep their jobs. Moving power to independent commissions, algorithmic map-drawing, and/or public auditing prevents the legislators from putting their thumb on the scale.
Ranked Choice Voting
Ranked Choice voting – or ‘instant runoff’ – has voters rank all candidates when they vote. This eliminates the need for run-off elections (which saves time and money and increases election security). And since all candidates have to vie for a voter’s attention – they tend to focus on issues and be less polarizing.
Learn more about it here, including a talk from Jason Quinley.
Duverger's Law
Duverger’s Law: Explains the Math Behind a Two-Party System. Where it is almost inevitable that we end up with polarized candidates. BUT – ranked choice voting and fairer districts can help us to dig ourselves out of the very partisan situation we are in right now.