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Eliminate
Gerrymandering |
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As an independent citizen, I believe open and fair elections are
essential to the functioning of our democracy. To be fair, an
election must not be biased or manipulated by a party in any way
that gives that p arty an edge or benefit. Direct fraud at the
ballot box is an obvious issue, but a more insidious form of fraud
occurs when either political party chooses to draw voter districts
by combining information contained in the census and detailed
political information to benefit itself.
Given the power of computers and the data available, it's a
relatively easy process for a party to draw districts in such a
way that it almost guarantees victory for that party - at the
expense of the rest of the citizens in the district. This deceit
by a party (and both do this) is called gerrymandering. This
process disenfranchises large percentage of voters and should be
illegal. |
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The US
Constitution says nothing about political parties. Article 1,
Section 2 states "The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of
the several States." George Washington in his Farewell Address
in 1796 voiced great concern about the formation of parties
when he stated "Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and
warn you in the most solemn manner against the painful effects
of the spirit of party…". We cannot expect to eliminate
political parties, rather I want to see our process of
electing citizens to powerful positions in the government to
be as fair and open as possible. There should be no
discrimination against either party by another, or against any
citizen who chooses to run for elected office without
declaring for either of the major two parties. To restore
health to our political system, gerrymandering should be
eliminated by:
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Outlawing the
use of any political data in drawing districts
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Maintain the
integrity of communities within a single district
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Make districts
as compact as possible.
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Neither party owns the political process. It's time to have
elections that reflect the true interests of all citizens. |
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It's time for
fiscally responsible, independent representation for NH
in Congress
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It's
time for Tim !
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