An elections case before the Supreme Court could dramatically change the way state legislative districts are drawn and could tilt some states in a decidedly more Republican direction.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday weighs an elections case that could dramatically change the way state legislative districts are drawn and could tilt some states in a decidedly more Republican direction.
The federal Constitution is clear. The national government's House of Representatives is to be apportioned based on the total population in each district, and the census is to count each person, whether eligible to vote or not, so that all are represented. The status of state legislative districts, however, is less clear.
Until 1964, state legislative districts often varied wildly in population. In Alabama, for instance, the population variances between two state Senate districts was 41-1. In a landmark 1964 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the Alabama redistricting and ruled by an 8-1 vote that the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection mandates the principle of "one person, one vote."
But what does that mean? Does it mean that the total population of state legislative districts should be equal, or does it mean the number of eligible voters in the districts should be equal, or the number of registered voters?
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
3 comments:
Voters only - the intent is for representation of citizens!
@1:29 pm. No it is not. If it was, then our Founding Fathers would have written the Constitution that way. That is not what the writers of the Constitution wanted and wrote. Or is the Constitution no longer a valid document any more, like the SCOTUS recently did. The Constitution says to use TOTAL population. That means children, illegals, felons, etc. I understand that they do not get a vote...well they are not supposed to vote but I believe many do, but that is a discussion for a different article. It seems that some people around here just want to follow the law only when it suits them. That seems to be the problem around here, starting with Obozo.
Count each ELIGIBLE voter.
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