Stomp the Gerrymander?

Slate magazine has an article about how mathematics can create reasonably shaped districts and put an end to Gerrymandering. The article includes a slide show of some of the worst offenders. The most ridiculous of them all is the 4th Illinois Congressional District, in Cook County. Actually, if I read the map correctly, the district has to sneak outside of the county, just to connect its norther and southern arms...



Whatever it takes to create a safe district...

Proponents of redistricting reform contend that competitive, geographicaly compact, districts would better serve their constituents. The author points out that it is "tough to find many defenders of the status quo, in which a supermajority of House seats are noncompetitive." That may be true. Unfortunately, the primary defenders of this system can be found in Congress and most of the fifty state-houses...

Via The Map Room