Blog Stage 6

   Carson, after reading what you wrote on gun control in America, and particularly in the state of Texas I can say that I share your point of view and believe that it is something that should happen immediately. It is unbelievable how many gun related massive killings have already happened and the government refuses to start making changes to the law and actually control this market. I can’t believe that only in 2018 there were 23 “incidents” in schools alone and that this doesn’t seem alarming to the people in charge of changing and making the laws in this country. Of course, not counting all of the other major tragedies that happened in 2018 that were related to the use of guns. I know there may be economic or other interests related to not controlling this situation but politicians should be able to see pass this and realize that this an every day issue, which unfortunately happens to innocent people and we see it everyday in the news.

Gerrymandering in the State of Texas

Gerrymandering in the State of Texas

   Gerrymandering, is a practice in the United States politics that consists in drawing lines and “breaking” or dividing the districts in order to favor one specific political party. This policy was first implemented back in the 19th century by Eldridge Gerry’s government, in order to reestablish the districts in Massachusetts. It has been used particularly to favor the Republican party, to diminish the number of Democratic voters and making it easier for them to win the different type of elections.

   The practice of Gerrymandering can be enforced because of the voting system that’s used in the United States. This system differs to the traditional way to count votes in many different countries that are ruled by a democratic government. In other countries, votes are traditionally counted one by one and votes are not divided by district, state, etc but every single vote counts. This means every single person’s vote count to elect the different office positions. On the other hand, the votes in the United States are counted by district, which means that its not the individual vote that matters in the end, but the political party that has the most votes per district or state.

   The situation described above is why Gerrymandering is such a popular practice and why it becomes convenient for the Republican party. By dividing the district, they strategically divide out the number of voters, in order to win over more districts. Also, even when it is obvious how this divisions are made to reduce the number of Democratic voters, it is permitted as long as people “drawing the lines” and making the divisions don’t get caught on doing it deliberately with the intention of benefiting it. Therefore even when the intention is obvious, it won’t be considered illegal unless someone publicly admits the real reason this divisions are made.

   I believe that this practice could be eliminated by changing the way votes are counted in this country. I understand that back when the states were uniting, it was more convenient and fair to count votes per state and not per person, because there was an uneven number of people living in different states, therefore if votes were to be counted by person and not by state, some citizens would be in obvious disadvantage and their “voices” would never be heard. However, nowadays people migrate from one state to the other, and times and demographics have definitely changed. If this voting structure were to change, then gerrymandering would stop having the importance it has now and politicians would not be able to manipulate de districts like they currently do. Or even if they did it wouldn’t really matter at the moment of counting down the votes.

   In my opinion, the intention of creating gerrymandering might have been a good one back in the day, but nowadays it is something that might be affecting voters because their voting preferences are not being represented in an accurate way. Especially in the state of Texas, which Is known as “one of the most gerrymandered states”, favoring the Republican Party which currently holds the majority of the seats in office. If we take a quick look into a map of how districts are divided in Texas, we can immediately identify this situation, especially in the way district 35 is drawn.