tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post461486681099364596..comments2024-03-25T22:28:29.238-04:00Comments on Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing: VOTING IS NOT A CRIMETony Isabellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07356415470545816484noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-11931119469396414352012-11-05T16:21:44.802-05:002012-11-05T16:21:44.802-05:00I’m for it. Because redistricting should be a matt...<br><i>I’m for it. Because redistricting should be a matter for geographers and mathematicians. Not politicians of any party.</i><br /><br />Amen!<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-16478742373695026432012-10-31T12:48:45.744-04:002012-10-31T12:48:45.744-04:00Excellent points and the only disagreement I have ...Excellent points and the only disagreement I have is that I feel Issue 2 was the best present alternative. But I prefer this.Tony Isabellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07356415470545816484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-75952594407929311842012-10-31T11:05:39.040-04:002012-10-31T11:05:39.040-04:00I also believe that Ohio's current method for...I also believe that Ohio's current method for redrawing legislative districts is an abomination. However, I voted against Issue 2 because it sets up a system whereby sitting judges would select the members of the commission that would redraw the district boundaries. I am a firm believer in the seperation of the three branches of governmnet and therefore could not support this solution to the redistricting problem. IMHO, redistricting should be done by an algorithm that would equalize districts based on poulation and geographical compactness. No discretion would be allowed in the draft districts. These districts would then become official 30 days later, unless overturned by a 3/4 majority vote of the Ohio House and Senate, the Governor, and the Secretary of State. If overturned, then each district would have to be approved by the voters in the proposed district. I would support almost any process that starts with a mathamatical determination of districts. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-83752924996422691262012-10-29T22:18:09.369-04:002012-10-29T22:18:09.369-04:00I voted a week ago today, first day of early votin...I voted a week ago today, first day of early voting here in Texas. Quite a turnout too. <br /><br />No ballot initiatives this time out. I was careful to make sure my straight Democratic vote had registered as such; there were reports of some glitches.<br /><br />Talking of redistricting -- my Congressman, Smokin' Joe Barton, is up for reelection. (He's the guy that apologized to BP.) It'd be nice if he lost but his district is almost ridiculous – something like 40 miles tall and three feet wide.<br /><br />Remember, if voting didn't make a difference, they wouldn't try to suppress it!Bradnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-86369659967935141462012-10-29T20:00:42.205-04:002012-10-29T20:00:42.205-04:00In fairness, I have to admit that my State (Oregon...In fairness, I have to admit that my State (Oregon) always has a bit of trouble redistricting, even doing so fairly (we have the land mass of Great Britain and a population smaller than metro Los Angeles - the population distribution tends to be in clumps.) Things got bad enough that we had to pass a referendum a couple of years back allowing redistricted officials to take a year to get to know their new districts.<br /><br />I liked the late Molly Ivins' tale of redistricting in Texas, where the law requires that districts be "compact and contiguous". One year the proposed districts resembled the infamous 'Gerrymander' or worse, leading the head of the committee to ask plaintively, "Does this look a'tall 'compact and contiguous' to y'all?!" Which drew the response from one Member, "Wa-all...in a ARTISTIC sense, it is!"Don Hilliatdnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-90349653072366388502012-10-29T15:28:42.255-04:002012-10-29T15:28:42.255-04:00Donna and I mailed in our ballots, since it can so...Donna and I mailed in our ballots, since it can sometimes be a hassle for us to get to the local voting place before work. By the time I get out of work at 9:00pm the polls are closed. Also, since Orange County is about as Republican as you can get, we don't need any hassle.<br /><br />Voting for Obama/Biden was pretty easy, as was casting a vote for Dianne Feinstein for another term. We voted straight Democratic, as we usually do. Here in California the Propositions on the ballot each time can be overwhelming. Much of that has to do with the ads running pro & con, plus remembering if a YES or NO vote will be in favor or against some particular issue. We try to discover what organizations, newspapers and individuals are paying for the ads and that can pretty much move us to vote one way or the other.<br /><br />If you read Mark Evanier's column on his own voting last week, you can pretty much guess how we filled in our own ballots with only a couple of exceptions. Of course, I have an old Navy buddy out here and I can bet that his vote on each issue and candidate pretty much cancels out mine or vice versa.<br /><br />It should be interesting to see if the current storms hitting the East coast creates problems for Election Day. Have to keep an eye on which districts are still without power for polling places next week.<br />Steve Chaputhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05125192472002278757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-49952225344726203892012-10-29T15:21:34.367-04:002012-10-29T15:21:34.367-04:00The only comment I have is on redistricting.
Dist...The only comment I have is on redistricting.<br /><br />Districts should be drawn by a panel that is made up of 50% of each majority party. If it takes 'em 50 years of fighting and arguing to get it done, well, that's the best reason I can think of for voting for an independent!!!<br /><br />I further believe that districts should not be drawn with a piece here and a piece there. It should all be, for lack of a better phrase, connect/continuous. Pulling islands of the population from here and associating them with an island of people there is just bad business. <br /><br />---Tom HunterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-8779431950474514212012-10-29T11:50:45.067-04:002012-10-29T11:50:45.067-04:00On ballot initiatives, the FL Repub-dominated legi...On ballot initiatives, the FL Repub-dominated legislature pushed a number of them onto the ballot so they wouldn't get blamed if they voted them into law. (Repubs so dominate the FL legislature that Democrats don't even need to show up.) The measures include "religious freedom" (aka giving taxpayer dollars to churches); "taxpayer bill of rights" (aka kneecapping the government's ability to collect any taxes) and "protecting a woman's right to choose" (aka laying the groundwork to ban abortion). And they managed to ignore the "non-partisan" redistricting amendment that was overwhelmingly passed in 2010. Skellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13567772450736098867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2252129938551938631.post-27782724329172111392012-10-29T11:45:33.144-04:002012-10-29T11:45:33.144-04:00As to redistricting, look at Cincinnati and Rep Ch...As to redistricting, look at Cincinnati and Rep Chabot. The 1st Congressional district was the southwestern corner of Ohio. Now it's a figure-8 shape which includes the solidly republican Warren county to the Northeast of Cincinnati and it trimmed some of the city off to better provide non-representation to the inhabitants of Cincinnati.Skellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13567772450736098867noreply@blogger.com